Rewinding the Force
by Mikkie Satin Cobalt
Summary: This is the story of what would have happened if Anakin hadn't turned to the dark side.
1. Chapter 1

**Part One**

_**Chapter One:**_

Everyone knows how Anakin Skywalker was seduced by the dark side, how he became Darth Vader, what happened to his children, who they were, and who they became. But what you don't know is what would have happened if he hadn't turned to the Dark Side for support. We are going to rewind the events of the past, and the ways of the Force, to a far-away galaxy, long long ago…

Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi stood in the center of the Jedi council. "There has been another assassination attempt on Senator Amidala's life." Obi-Wan Kenobi told the council.

"I think," Anakin Skywalker interrupted his Master, "that the only way to stop the attempts is to find out who's carrying them out and stop them."

"I don't know Anakin, who will protect her?"

"Your Padawan is right, Master Kenobi," said esteemed Master Mace Windu. "Anakin will protect her, he is fully capable, and you will pursue the assassin. Everyone agree?" Master Windu looked around the room.

"Find this assassin, you must," Yoda told the Jedi in a raspy, experienced voice. "Important to the Republic this vote is." Yoda stamped his gymer stick on the council room floor.

"We won't fail you, Master," Anakin bowed, and was ready to leave, now inspired by two things; Master Windu's words, and the fact that he was going to be alone with Padme Amidala. Obi-Wan sighed, shook his head, and nodded to the council.

"Yes, you're right." Obi-Wan knew that these steps must be made to protect the Senator, but he did not want his Padawan to get into any trouble involving the Senator. Obi-Wan could sense Anakin's feelings for her, and he was worried time alone with Amidala might inspire the Padawan to do more than protecting…

Anakin and Obi-Wan walked to the Senator Amidala's apartments, Obi-Wan watched Anakin in the elevator on the way down. Anakin was tense, very tense. He was breathing deeply, preparing himself for the task ahead. "Why is he so tense?" Obi-Wan asked him self, "I certainly hope he's not thinking of trying anything stupid…more stupid than normal, anyway."

"Senator Amidala," Obi-Wan said, "I've been assigned to pursue the assassin who's been after you, while Anakin will protect you."

"Oh," Padme mumbled, "oh, alright."

"But Coruscant is too dangerous for you M'lady," Anakin added, stepping forward, "I'm supposed to take you back to Naboo."

"Alright," Padme mumbled. She was secretly uneasy about being alone with Anakin. Everything about him made her uneasy. The way he was looking at her, the way he _supposed_ to not take his eyes off her. She felt awkward about him watching her as she lay in her bed, wearing a slightly revealing nightdress. She had always been watched, so no harm would come to her in her political career, and she'd never had a problem with it, until now. Why she felt weird around Anakin, why he was different, she did not know. She hadn't ever felt like this, and she didn't know why. She wanted answers, but the only one that could answer them was herself, and she didn't know, she was afraid to know, for fear of what it might mean.

"You need to leave tomorrow morning, travel as refugees. No private ships, nothing official either. Take Artoo with you." Obi-Wan told them. He walked out of the door, bowing to the Senator, then signaling to Anakin, who bowed as well –watching the Senator as he did- and walked out behind Obi-Wan.

After closing the door, Obi-Wan looked to Anakin, who was smiling in spite of himself. "Remember," Obi-Wan snapped, bringing Anakin down from his cloud of happy delusions, "don't do anything stupid." Obi-Wan eyed his Padawan, and started walking away. Anakin followed.

"Stupid?" Anakin asked sarcastically. "_Me_, do anything…_stupid_? Why, Obi-Wan, where _would_ you get an idea like that?"

"Experience." Anakin laughed, much to Obi-Wan's dismay, it was just another joke to him. He wasn't taking it seriously. "Anakin, I _mean_ it."

"I know you do. I…just happened to be enjoying it is all."

"Well don't. You need to be aware, and _completely_ serious."

"Don't _worry_, I will be."

Obi-Wan walked to Senator Amidala's apartments. Anakin had left the temple about half an hour earlier, but he wanted to give some last-minute advice before he left fro Naboo. He knocked on the door, a handmaiden admitted him. "Hello, Master Kenobi." She eyeballed him, as she said it, and smiled. She liked what she saw.

"I'm here to see my Padawan, Anakin, has he left?"

"Yes…but only just."

"I see. Well, thank you anyway…" Obi-Wan paused, wondering the name of the handmaiden.

"Desiree." Her voice was like bells to him. She was beautiful; her soft brown hair fell in curls on her shoulders. Her blue eyes sparkled, and her smile was soft and innocent…and _loving_. Obi-Wan was caught off-guard.

"Desiree…like desire…" he thought to himself. He bowed, "Thank you, _Desiree_."

Obi-Wan walked away from the apartment. Obi-Wan didn't know what it was like to be loved. He'd always been secretly jealous of Anakin, though naturally, he'd never admit it. Anakin had been _really_ loved. He'd _known_ his mother, Obi-Wan hadn't. Obi-Wan didn't know what it was like to love, but he was getting an idea.

Desiree made his heart leap, just with her voice; he was intoxicated by her voice, that bell sound. He'd never heard anything like it. He could just imagine holding her, looking into those eyes…losing himself there…that was all he wanted…NO! He couldn't, he was a Jedi. He didn't think even Anakin would be stupid enough to pull a stunt like that… Obi-Wan sighed, "I wish I could see her again."

Hours later, Obi-Wan got into his ship, and began his trip to Kamino. He felt unnatural turbulence in the ship. Obi-Wan was forced to land on the nearby planet of Corellia. As he stepped out of the speeder, he saw something move behind of his seat in the speeder. "Who's there?" Obi-Wan ignited his lightsaber. Startled, Desiree stepped from the speeder. "Desiree!" Obi-Wan exclaimed, unable to control his excitement.

"Hello, Obi-Wan…" she mumbled, not looking into his eyes.

"Desiree…WH-what are you doing here?"

"I had to see you again."

"Why?" Obi-Wan's heart was pumping, hoping for the answer that he wanted so desperately to hear. The one that would make him, or destroy him.

"I-I think I love you." Obi-Wan's mouth hung agape, completely in awe.

"Desiree…I, I am-"

"A Jedi, I know."

"And I'm not supposed to have relationships like that…and I hate to admit it but…I think I love you too." He smiled at her, she smiled back. He grabbed onto her hand, and they walked down the streets of Corellia.

Anakin and Padme stood on a balcony looking over the lake of Naboo. "I remember how we'd lay on the sand and let the sun dry us, and try to guess the names of the birds singing." Padme said, remembering her childhood.

"I hate sand. It's coarse, and rough and irritating…and it gets everywhere." Anakin paused to look up at Padme and vaguely smile. "Not like here. Here everything is soft…" Anakin bit his lip, and reached his hand out to stroke Padme's back, "and smooth." Padme looked up at him, he looked down at her. Slowly, they moved in toward each other. Their lips met. Anakin's heart leapt his pulse racing. Padme gave in and let her heart take over her. They stood on the balcony, letting the wind tousle their hair, and Padme suddenly pulled away from him, her common sense taking over again.

"No, I shouldn't have done that." She nervously rubbed her hands together and straightened her posture. Anakin sighed and straightened as well. He looked down at her, confused.

"I'm sorry." He mumbled, squinting out at the lake.

Obi-Wan stood with Desiree looking out over Corellia. Neither of them spoke. Desiree took his hand and smiled at him. She laid her head down on his shoulder, he kissed her forehead. "Even Anakin wouldn't do something like this," Obi-Wan thought to himself, "why am I?" He knew he shouldn't be here with her. He shouldn't be having anything to do with her, but he wanted to be with her. He wanted to hold her, to be with her forever. He loved her. He now knew how Anakin might have felt, in not seeing Padme for ten years. He didn't want to leave her. Oh how he wanted to stay in that moment forever.

Anakin Skywalker sat in a grassy field with Padme Amidala; she wore a golden dress the flowed around her. Her hair was kept in two buns, with golden nets keeping them in tact, while the rest of her hair fell in curls around her face. Anakin couldn't take his eyes off her. Not that he was supposed to, but he didn't want to.

Anakin saw an animal wandering a ways away, and got up to follow it. Padme turned her head to watch what he was doing. She saw him riding the beast, with it jerking around, trying to buck him off. He fell to the ground face first. "On no!" thought Padme as she began running to him. She knelt down beside him, and rolled him over onto his back, he was laughing; just laughing.

"You jerk! You made me think you were hurt!" she smacked his chest. He rolled over so that she was in his arms, and they rolled around on the field.

Obi-Wan stepped into his star fighter. Desiree ran up just as he began to lower the shield. "Obi-Wan," she said, "let me come with you!"

"Desiree, you know why I can't do that." He got back out of the star fighter, and walked toward her. He kissed her lightly on the cheek, and then returned to his ship. "Goodbye, Desiree." He mumbled softly. A single tear escaped from Desiree's eye as he lifted into the early-morning sky. She bit her lip, and wrapped her jacket around her tightly as the wind from the ship's takeoff blew her hair in all directions.

She continued to cry softly as she walked to a house in the finer neighborhoods of Corellia. Desiree knocked on the door, unsure what would happen.

"Desiree!" exclaimed a woman as she opened the door.

"Hello, mother," Desiree stepped through the door.

"Why aren't you on Coruscant?"

"I-I…I don't know…"

"Come in dear," her mother murmured as she hustled her daughter into the house. "Desiree's here!" the woman called into the hallway depths of the fine house. Instantly, her family popped out of the hallways, through doors, and peering in through windows. Once verifying the new arrival, they came toward her, hugging and kissing her, glad to have her back. They could not even imagine why, but their dear Desiree was far, far away; too far for comfort.

Padme and Anakin sat by the fireplace in the lake house. Awkward silence engulfed them. Anakin looked to her, she looked away. "From the moment I met you," he began, breaking the silence, "all those years ago, not a day has gone by when I haven't thought of you. And now that I'm with you again, I'm in agony." Anakin paused, waiting for a reaction from Padme, when he did not receive one, he continued. "The closer I get to you, the worse it gets. At the thought of not being with you…I can't breathe." Padme squirmed a little bit, and readjusted her posture. "I am haunted by the kiss you should never have given me. My heart is beating," He leaned in toward Padme, she leaned in to kiss him and he pulled away, nearly taunting her…and himself, "hoping that that kiss will not become a scar. You are in my very soul, tormenting me. And I'd do…I will do anything you ask."

Anakin looked to Padme, waiting for an answer, she finally looked at him, and then, slowly, she looked away. "Humph," Anakin mumbled, "If you are suffering as much as I am then _please_ tell me."

"I can't…_we_ can't…it's-just not possible." She could barely speak, the words only came out of her because her brain was forcing them to, yet her heart wished she could take them back.

"Anything is possible, Padme, listen to me…"

"No you listen! We live in a _real_ world, come back to it. You're studying to become a Jedi, I'm a senator. If you follow you're thoughts through to conclusion, it will take us to a place we cannot go. _Regardless_ of the way we feel about each other."

"Then you _do_ feel something!"

"I will not let you give up your future for me."

Anakin leapt up suddenly, slowly walking towards her "You are asking me to be _rational_ that is something I _know_ I cannot do. Believe me, I wish I could just…_wish_ away my feelings…but I can't."

"I will _not_ give in to this." Anakin nodded, then turned to leave, but paused in the doorway.

"Well you know it-wouldn't have to be that way…we could keep it a secret."

"We'd be living a lie. One we couldn't keep…even if we _wanted_ to. I couldn't do that, could _you_ Anakin, could you live like that?" Silence over came them, and all that could be heard for a few moments was the crackling of the fire.

"No," Anakin said regretfully, "no, you're right. It would destroy us."

Anakin was between the lands of past and future, between what will be certainly and what can be changed, between sleep and awake. He tossed, he turned, he pitched and he mumbled. He could not get the image of his mother out of his head. She was in terrible pain; he could feel it in every fiber of his being, every muscle, every nerve. Everything in him was pointing him to what he forced to ignore. His eyes shot open, and he breathed heavily, trying desperately to catch his breath.

Anakin shook the sleep off him, rose, and dressed. He crept to the balcony overlooking the lake. He stood still as a statue, his eyes closed, his mind and body in tune to the Force. The curtain to Padme's room swung open and she stepped out. As she slowly crept behind Anakin, and he did not stir, she turned to leave him.

"Don't go," he said, startling her.

"I don't want to disturb you."

"Your presence is soothing." Padme paused, looking at him stand so still…

"You had another nightmare last night."

"Jedi don't have nightmares."

"I heard you."

Anakin slowly opened his eyes, "I saw my mother." He turned to face Padme as she stepped closer to him. "She is suffering Padme. I saw her as clearly as I see you now." He stared at her for a moment, before he took a step and turned away from her. Shaking his head, putting his hands to his hips, sighing, dropping his shoulder and releasing the tension within them he said, "She is in pain." Anakin turned back to face Padme. "I know I'm disobeying my mandate to protect you, Senator, but I have to go." He stepped back toward her. "I _have_ to help her."

"I'll go with you," she said uncertainly, yet loyally.

"I'm sorry but I don't have a choice," Anakin let out his breath, and he seemed a bit more relieved.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter Two:**_

Desiree knew there was something different about her. She knew when she woke up; unfortunately, she wasn't sure what the difference was. As she tumbled down the stairs, she thought about what the difference could possibly be. She wished Obi-Wan were here, he would have been able to help her, but he wasn't here. She sat down to breakfast with her family. They couldn't tell any difference in her.

Anakin helped Padme down from the ship. "Let's find Watto," Anakin told Padme. "If he's hurting her, I swear I will…" but he couldn't figure out what he would do, so started out for Watto's with Padme at his side.

Watto sat outside his shop, trying to fix something. Anakin pulled the part from the hands of his previous owner, "I'm here about a slave, Shmi Skywalker."

Obi-Wan sighed, he was in big trouble; he was face-to-face with the bounty hunter Jango Fett, the one trying to kill Padme Amidala. He was trying to stay in control, but Desiree just kept creeping into his mind. He saw her laying on a hammock on the balcony of a house on Corellia. She seemed distant. She was thinking of him. He fell in his last attempt to stop the bounty hunter. He threw a tracking device to the escaping ship, and rolled over, and sighed.

Desiree sat up suddenly and walked backed to her room from the balcony she'd been looking out of. She pulled from her bag a small transmitter. She was able to get a hold of a transmitter that Anakin had.

"Master Anakin, may I speak with M'lady?" Anakin handed the transmitter to Padme. "Miss, I won't be able to work for you any more, I'm sorry."

"It's alright Desiree, but may I ask why?"

"It's…" Desiree mumbled, putting her hand to her stomach, "family matters."

"Oh, well alright." Padme nodded, they said goodbye and the transmission faded away. Padme looked to Anakin, "I wonder what that means?"

"I don't know, M'lady." Anakin looked away from her, avoiding her gaze as they made their way to the Lars' moisture farm.

"Who are you?" a man named Owen asked as Anakin and Padme entered.

"I'm Anakin Skywalker; I'm looking for my mother." A man in a wheelchair rolled himself out from the shadows.

"She talked fondly of you. I'm glad to meet you, but sorry to report she's gone. I'd go after her m'self if my leg hadn't gotten chopped off."

"Where is she?" Anakin growled, forcing himself not to run out now.

"The Tuscan Raiders took her. We gathered some friends and went after her, but many were killed."

"I'm sorry, but I'm going to find her."

"She's been gone for nearly a month, she's not alive, son."

"She _**is**_ alive, I can feel her presence, and she is suffering. I am going to help her." With that, Anakin took off on a land speeder and zoomed off into the sun setting on the horizon.

Anakin snuck into the Tusken camp, slow and steady. He passed by a number of tents, but chose the particular tent he sensed his mother was currently being held. She was tied with her arms and legs bound to poles hung from the wall. She was bruised and beaten, bloody and worn out. Her face had aged an eternity since Anakin had last seen her.

"Mom!" Anakin cried as he untied her. She pitched forward into his arms. He cried and she reached out and cradled his face.

"Annie, my Annie, I didn't think I'd ever see you again."

"I hoped we would, c'mon mom, let's go back."

"I'm complete now Annie, now that I've seen you again. I love you Annie." Anakin was crying steadily as his mother shrank away and became one with the Force that had brought her pride and joy to her nearly twenty years earlier. Anakin brought his mother's limp body up to his chest and cried. He laid her down gently and rose, shoulders level, head high, and he pulled his lightsaber from his belt. He may have been detected by the Tuskens, he might not have been, but it mattered not. Tusken men ran forward at him, javelins raised, Anakin's blade ran through them as if they were silk. Tusken women ran forward to tend to their husbands, unarmed, Anakin's blade sliced them in pieces. Tusken children ran out from all directions, to investigate the situation, Anakin's blade killed them easiest of all. That was the end of the Tuskens.

Anakin returned to his mother. He found cloth in one of the tents; he wrapped her up, and took her home.

The funeral was small. The three Lars, Anakin, and Padme were the only ones in attendance. Shmi Skywalker was buried behind the house of the moisture farm. Once the burial was complete, Anakin dropped to his knees on top of the grave. His face was stone, his voice inactive. He touched the tombstone sighed, and rose. He glided past Padme and the Lars, and walked away into the moisture farm.

He stood in this small room. Trying to piece some machinery together to keep his mind off what had just taken place. Padme walked into the room, "I brought you something. Are you hungry?"

"The shifter broke," Anakin mumbled, blatantly ignoring her question. His voice was cracking, and he was drawing in deep breaths to keep from crying. "Life seems so much simpler when you're fixing things….I'm good at fixing things, always was." Anakin paused, "But I couldn't…." he looked up to Padme, "Why'd she have to die? Why couldn't I save her? I _know_ I could have!" Anakin shook his head and turned away from Padme and walked to the other side of the room, stopping in front of another table.

"Sometimes there are things no one can fix." Padme said in a comforting, smooth voice. "You're not all powerful."

"Well I should be!" Anakin snapped at her. "Someday I will be. I will be…the most _powerful_ Jedi ever. I promise you, I will even learn to stop people from dying!"

"Anakin…."

"Its all Obi-Wan's fault," Anakin screamed, "he's jealous! He's holding me back!" Anakin threw his little piece of machinery at the wall in fury. It smashed.

"What's wrong Annie?" Padme stepped forward cautiously.

"I-I-I killed them." Anakin stuttered, "I killed them all… They're dead, every single one of them." He turned to face Padme, "And not just the men, but the women and the children too. They're like animals! And I slaughtered them like animals! I HATE them!" Anakin sat down with his back to the table, with Padme standing above him. She sat down beside him.

"To be angry is to be human."

"I'm a Jedi," Anakin shook his head, "I know I'm better than this." Anakin sniffled and cried; Padme comforted him and rubbed the back of his neck lightly with her hand. She was partially shocked with his actions, partially concerned for his mental state of being.

Desiree looked out over the horizon and sighed. She was afraid of the future. What it held for them. She needed Obi-Wan to be here, to guide her, to comfort her. She walked back into her room and sighed. She couldn't believe it, she was pregnant.

Anakin and Padme returned to the ship. There was a message waiting for him from Obi-Wan. "Anakin, dispatch this to the Jedi Council: I have been to Kamino; they are building us an army of clones, based on the Bounty Hunter Jango Fett. Now I am on Genosis, and I have found the Separatist leaders here with Count Dooku, they are building a droid army. The Trade Federation is behind the attempts on the Senator's life. They are planning to-" Obi-Wan was suddenly grabbed from the transmission, and it ended.

"Alright, Anakin," said Mace Windu, "protect the Senator. We will help Master Kenobi."

"Yes, Master." Anakin mumbled and shut off the transmission.

"We have to help him!" Padme said.

"You heard them! We can't!"

"Do you think they will make it in time? They are much farther than we are!"

"We CAN'T Padme, I'm sorry."

"Well, if you want to protect me, you'll have to come, because I'm going."

Anakin smiled, she was a politician, and what do politicians do best? They find loopholes.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter Three:**_

Anakin and Padme stood at the mouth to the arena on a vehicle-like platform with their arms cuffed together and their legs shackled. Anakin turned to face Padme, "Don't be afraid," he said, his deep voice like a whisper in the volume of the outside arena. Padme looked back to him, biting her lip at first.

"I'm not afraid to die," she whispered, unsure of what to say. She decided to tell the truth. Anakin stared back at her, willing her to say something. "I've been dying a little bit each day since you came back into my life." Her voice was cracking, like she did not know where she had picked up the courage to be saying this.

"What are you talking about?" Anakin's deep smooth voice sounded calm, yet it masked his pure nervousness.

"I love you."

"You love me?" Anakin was in shock, after all she'd said to him, how? Anakin looked away from Padme and took a sharp breath. "I thought we had decided not to fall in love. That we would be forced to live a lie; and that it would destroy our lives."

"I think our lives are about to be destroyed anyway." She leaned to Anakin, "I truly...deeply…love you…and before we die, I want you to know." They inched closer to each other and they kissed. Suddenly, the platform was beginning to move into the arena, they pulled apart, but still stared deeply into each other's eyes. As the platform moved through the doorway into the middle of the arena, they turned away from each other and to the crowd that surely would see them die.

The crowd was roaring and screaming, they were each shackled to a post, alongside Obi-Wan. "I was beginning to wonder if you'd gotten my message." Obi-Wan said sarcastically.

"I dispatched it to Coruscant, like you asked. But then we decided to come and rescue you."

Obi-Wan looked to his chained hands above him. "Some rescue."

"Let the executions begin," Count Dooku's voice dispatched through the loud speaker." Three doors opened into the arena. A vicious green, clawed animal with six legs jumped out; a chartreuse, three-horned animal clambered in lazily and emitted a feral cry; and a ferocious cat-like animal, grey-and-white striped with sharp spikes leaped into the arena. A Genosian poked the cat-like animal with a shocker stick. The animals reared and drug the Genosian from its perch and began devouring it.

"I have a very bad feeling about this," Anakin mumbled to himself as he shifted uncomfortably, while Padme began to work out of her shackles with her teeth.

The animals began making their way to the three prisoners. "Find a way to get free." Obi-Wan whispered to Anakin.

"What about Padme?" Anakin asked, while Padme pulled off one of her shackles and began to climb up the pole.

"She seems to be doing fine on her own." The clawed beast raised one of its legs and began to strike at the Jedi Master. He moved out of the way just in time for the beast to break through his chains for him. Obi-Wan moved out of the way of the beast, who continued to take jabs at the Jedi.

The three-horned animal rushed towards Anakin, who shifted his weight from foot-to-foot uncertainly before jumping onto the back of the animal in just enough time, he wrapped his chain around one of the animal's horns, and as the animal turned away, the chain broke free at the top. Padme stood on the top of the pole as the feline-like animal leapt at her from the ground, catching hold of her perch with its claws. She swung the long chains attached to her wrist down upon it, but with a giant leap, it reached out and slashed her back with its claws. She let out a scream of pain as she doubled over for a few moments. Anakin was being thrown up and down as he rode the three-horned animal. The animal changed its footing to try to thrown the Jedi learner from its back, and succeeded. Anakin fell behind the animal, but held his grip to his chains and was drug along behind the beast as it galloped through the arena.

A Genosian rode past Obi-Wan and the Jedi grabbed its stick from him and used it to poke at the clawed monster. The three-horned animal came to a stop and shook the chain from its horn. Anakin drew nearer to it cautiously, once he was near enough, he jumped onto the back of the animal and used his chain as reign. Obi-Wan took jabs at the clawed beast as it tried to stab him with one of its many claws. Padme finished letting herself out of the shackles and looked down to find the feline beast had begun to prowl at the foot of her perch once again. Anakin and the three-horned beast rammed into it; it would bother the Senator no more. "Jump!" he called and she stood and stopped off the pole with aim that landed her gracefully behind Anakin. She kissed his cheek before he jerked the reigns to move the animal.

Obi-Wan threw his electric javelin into the clawed animal's shoulders. It emitted a cry of pain, and Obi-Wan stood back, pleased. Pleased until it jerked its head and grabbed the spear out with its mouth and broke it with its sharp and powerful teeth. Obi-Wan decided to run. He jumped onto the back of the horned animal behind Anakin and Padme, and they made their way away from the vicious clawed beast.

"This isn't the way it's supposed to be!" Nute Gunray protested to the Sith Lord Count Dooku. "Jango! Finish her off!"

"Patience," the sith crooned, "Viceroy, patience. She will die." Count Dooku motioned at a Genosian behind a controller. Just then, seven destroyer droids rolled from a hidden door in the arena, encircling the Republic captives. Quietly, Mace Windu stepped across the floor of the sith's viewing balcony. He ignited his lightsaber centimeters away from the Bounty hunter's throat.

"Master Windu," said Dooku, "How pleasant of you to join us."

"This party's over," said the Jedi master, as he gave the signal to hundreds of Jedi lurking all throughout the arena.

"Brave…but _foolish_, my old Jedi friend. You're impossibly outnumbered."

Mace Windu smiled secretively, "I don't think so."

"We'll see." More droids and Jango Fett fired at the Jedi, who leapt backwards into the bowels of the arena. The Genosian spectators flew from the stands as thousands of battle droids marched from yet another door off the arena. The Jedi ran toward them, and the battle had begun. One Jedi threw two extra light sabers to Anakin and Obi-Wan, who first used them to cut each others' shackles. Machines flared out charges that rang through the stadium, causing massive damage. The three horned animal threw its passengers from their perch, and they scrambled to collect themselves. Padme shot the Genosian from a passing cart and ran to take control of it. Anakin ran to join her. They made a good team. Anakin would deflect incoming shots with his blade while Padme shot out at the enemies.

Jango Fett blasted himself into the arena just as the three horned animal charged at Mace Windu. The animal threw the bounty hunter with its horns and trampled over him and away into the arena. It moved to charge back, throwing droids out of the way as it did. The bounty hunter shot the animal and moved out of the way just as the animal's body came sliding past him. Mace Windu advanced on Jango, who in return began to shoot at the Jedi, and made slashes at the hunter, cut off his gun hand, and then his head. The head rolled farther as the body crumpled to the ground.

The clawed beast gained on Obi-Wan, and Obi-Wan smiled up at it, armed. He cut off its from claws smoothly before slashing its head and torso. Suddenly, more battle droids marched into the arena, massively outnumbering and encircling the group of freedom fighters. The droids held their fire, on the order from Count Dooku. The Jedi held their weapons warily, defeated. "Master Windu," called the sith, "You have fought gallantly, worthy of recognition in the archives of the Jedi Order. Now, it is finished. Surrender and your lives will be spared."

"We will not be hostages to be barded, Dooku," called the Master Jedi.

"Then, I am sorry, old friend." The droids prepared their weapons once more. As the Jedi reluctantly readied them once more, Padme cried, "Look!" Republic carriers drifted down into the arena, with Clone Troopers jumped into the battle to help the survivors, and to protect them. The survivors climbed into the ships as the clone troopers vacated them.

Count Dooku stood with some Separatist leaders in a hidden room on the Genosian hangar bay. "This is not looking good at all. We must get more starships into space."

"We have to order a retreat."

"My master will never allow the Republic to get away with this treachery."

"I'm sending my warriors to hide in the catacombs. The Jedi must not find our designs for the ultimate weapon." The Genosian leader downloaded the plans onto a hard-drive ball and gave it to Dooku. "If they find out what we are planning to build, we're doomed."

"I will take the plans with me to Coruscant. They will be much safer there, with my master."

As the battle continued, Obi-Wan and Anakin prepare to find Dooku to stop his escape before he might rally more star systems to his cause. They ran into the hangar, light sabers ignited. "You're going to pay for the Jedi you killed today, Dooku," Anakin hissed, pacing the floor, preparing for battle.

"We'll take him together," Obi-Wan whispered, "you go in slowly on the left-"

"I'm taking him now!" Anakin shouted as he ran toward the sith.

"No, Anakin! NO!" The sith raised him into the air with shock waves of neon blue lighting that showed the terrible power of the Dark Force. Anakin crumpled into the corner, energy drained. Obi-Wan circled the sith.

"As you can see, my Jedi powers are far beyond yours. Now, back down." He shot Force lightning at Obi-Wan, but he absorbed it with his lightsaber, as Anakin had been too blinded to do.

"I don't think so," Obi-Wan replied calmly. They circled each other longer, and the sith ignited his lightsaber. They were well-matched, and broke apart after a few moves, and began circling each other some more.

"Master Kenobi, you disappoint me. Yoda holds you in such _high_ esteem." They engaged in swordplay again and as their swords locked each others strength, "Surely you can do better."

Anakin moaned and stirred a little. He tried to stand, but found himself too exhausted to do so. The Jedi Master and the sith continued their dance of skilled swordsmanship. Count Dooku took a blow to Obi-Wan's arm and leg, grazing the skin, but enough to make the Jedi crumple to the floor, wounded. As the sith made for the killing blow, Anakin jumped out, lightsaber ignited. He barred the sith's sword from piercing his Jedi Master, and friend.

"Brave of you boy," grunted the sith, "but I'd thought you had learned your lesson."

"I _am_ a slow learner." Obi-Wan tossed his sword to Anakin and he used both swords to create a spin-and-parry maneuver. The sith cracked one of the swords, and Anakin adjusted and continued his attack. After many throws from both sides, the sith severed Anakin's arm and force-threw him back near Obi-Wan, moaning in pain.

Slowly, Yoda emerged from the shadows into the hangar. "Master Yoda," said Dooku.

"Count Dooku," Yoda mumbled.

"You have interfered with our affairs for the last time." He used the Force to throw wall bearings at the tiny Jedi, but the powerful Master threw them off without fret.

"Powerful you have become, Dooku. The Dark Side I sense in you."

"I have become more powerful than any Jedi, even you." He threw his force lightning at the Master, but Yoda casually absorbed the power in his small hand and threw it back at the sith.

"Much to learn, you still have."

"It is obvious that this contest cannot be decided by our knowledge of the Force…but by our skill with a lightsaber." Yoda leapt at the sith, danced around him throwing blows as his tiny body moved almost too fast to see.

"Fought well you have, my old Padawan."

"This is just the beginning." He manipulated a towering structure inside the hangar so it would fall upon the wounded Jedi. Yoda stopped it as the sith ran onto his ship and made his exit. Just then, Padme arrived with a ship full of clone troopers, they ran onto the landing just as Dooku's ship took off.

"Anakin!" Padme ran into the hangar and gave him a hug as he tried to recover from the loss of his hand.

After receiving a mechanical hand surgically, Anakin escorted Padme home to Naboo. They flew in her silver ship, and he manned the controls uneasily. "Anakin," she asked, "how would you feel about training someone to be a Jedi?"

"I would be honored, but it is not my place."

"Not even to teach someone too old to join the Order?"

"What do you mean?" he looked over to her, but she stared out the windshield, distracted.

"Anakin, I want to become a Jedi."

"Padme…you-you can't, you're too old to join the Order…"

"I know, that's why I want you to teach me."

"It's dangerous…"

"After all we've been through, don't you know I can handle dangerous?"

"Well, if it's what you really want…"

"It is, but…there's something else I want even more…"

The sun shone though the trees of Naboo and reflected in its lake's lightly churning waters as Anakin and Padme stood on the balcony with a ceremonial priest bonded their love with vows. They took each others hands as the priest stepped aside, and they kissed. They pulled away after a long while and silently looked into each other's eyes and smiled. They turned and looked out into horizon, at the setting sun, wondering what the unpredictable future had in store for them.

"Do you believe what Count Dooku said about Sidious controlling the Senate?" Obi-Wan asked Mace Windu as they looked out into the Coruscant sunset. "It doesn't feel right."

"Joined the Dark Side, Dooku has," said Yoda from his chair in the Senate. "Lies, deceit, greedy mistrust are his ways now."

"Nevertheless," said Mace Windu, "I feel we should keep a closer eye on the Senate."

"I agree."

"I have to admit, without the clones it wouldn't have been a victory," Obi-Wan said regretfully.

"Victory?!" cried Yoda, "Victory, you say? Master Obi-Wan, not victory, the shroud of the Dark Side has fallen. Begun, the clone war has."


	4. Chapter 4

_**Chapter Four: **_

With the galaxy in the midst of civil war, every system was in fear of even their own neighbors, trying desperately to uphold the Republic's greatest tradition; democracy. Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi attempted to rescue Chancellor Palpatine from the separatists. "Count Dooku," the Chancellor murmured to the Jedi, and they followed his gaze. Count Dooku was entering the large holding chamber with two security droids.

"This time," Obi-Wan whispered to Anakin, "we do it together."

"I was about to say that," Anakin grunted huskily as he moved around Obi-Wan to prepare for a confrontation with the Sith Lord. Count Dooku jumped over the railing, ignoring the stairs on both his left and right.

"Get help," the Chancellor whispered as Dooku began to approach the Jedi, "you're no match for him. He's a sith lord."

"Chancellor Palpatine," Obi-Wan replied with a smile, "sith lords are our specialties." Anakin and Obi-Wan dropped their Jedi robes to the floor; they would be taking every precaution this time.

"Your swords please," boomed Count Dooku, perfectly at home in this separatist ship, and taking every advantage of this home ground. "We don't want to make a mess of things in front of the Chancellor."

"You won't get away this time, Dooku," Obi-Wan said, as he and Anakin advanced to meet the sith. The two Jedi ignited their light sabers. Dooku followed suit and the battle began. The Jedi parried, but Dooku kept them at bay easily. Anakin and Obi-Wan circled the Count, and he stepped back.

All three stood wary as the sith said, "I've been looking forward to this."

"My powers have doubled since the last time we met, Count." Anakin said, keeping his head held high, and his shoulders back.

"Good," the Count crooned, "twice the pride, double the fall." Anakin lunged forward, with Obi-Wan at his side. The Jedi parried a few more stabs at Dooku, but, again, he held them off with ease. The Chancellor looked on with dismay as the sith lord lifted Obi-Wan up with the force and threw him to the side. Anakin stepped forward, making a half-hearted blow at Dooku, as they began to walk up the stairs, Anakin forcing the ascent, as Dooku walked backwards up the flight, keeping a cautious eye on the young Skywalker. Dooku made some blows at Anakin, but Anakin kept the sith lord at bay with experienced ease.

Obi-Wan got off the floor, grabbed his lightsaber, and ran to help his friend in battle. The security droids joined the fight, and fired some shots at the Jedi Master. He deflected the bolts, and a few slices later had the droids on the floor in pieces. As Obi-Wan intruded upon Anakin's quarry with the sith lord, he used the force to pick up both Jedi off their feet, and send Anakin tumbling into a corner. As for Obi-Wan, he sent flying across the room, crashing into the railing of the walkway, and into a crumpled heap on the floor.

Rage surged through Anakin's body. He jumped up as Count Dooku pulled one of the giant platforms of the upper walkway tipping into Obi-Wan's side and pushing him across the floor. Anakin attacked from behind, kicking Dooku over the railing and onto the lower floor. Anakin jumped down behind him and he began to attack relentlessly. Blue and red flew by in almost an invisible blur. The two sabers clashed, Anakin and the Count were locked into a battle of wills. Dooku began to push down on Anakin's saber, but he resisted. "I sense great fear in you, Skywalker. You have hate. You have anger. But you don't use them." Anakin pushed, and sent the sith reeling backwards. He raised his blue saber over his head, and make a few more attempts at the sith. Anakin and the Count flew about in circles, making blows, and holding up defenses.

Anakin finally got the upper hand as he cut off Dooku's wrists. He caught the red blade as it fell from the air. He crossed the blades over Dooku's neck, breathing deeply from the adrenaline. "Good, Anakin," the Chancellor laughed, "good. Kill him, kill him now." Dooku stared at the Chancellor in disbelief.

"I shouldn't," Anakin struggled.

"Do it!" The Chancellor hissed.

"It is not the Jedi way."

"If you leave him here, the Separatists will have an advantage. He is too dangerous to live!"

"He is an unarmed prisoner." Anakin closed the light sabers. He threw Dooku's to the side.

"It is only natural. He cut off your arm, you want revenge. It is not the first time." Anakin swiveled to face the Chancellor. "Remember what you told me about your mother…and the sand people?" Anakin sighed, and unlatched the Chancellor's manacles from the chair. He crossed the room, and kicked Dooku's knees out from under him as he passed. "Now, we must leave. Before more security droids arrive." The Chancellor walked with a brisk pace, and Anakin ran to pick up Obi-Wan as the Chancellor strode across the room.

"Anakin!" The Chancellor said, stopping, "there is no time! We must get off this ship before it's too late!"

"He seems to be alright," Anakin said, after roughly inspecting Obi-Wan.

"Leave him, or we'll never make it!"

"His fate will be the same as ours."

"Elevator's not working," Anakin told the Chancellor, holding Obi-Wan steadily across his shoulders, "Artoo, start the elevator." The ship began to tip sideways, and all sorts of scraps began flying out of the ship through passageways that had been blasted into the ship. Anakin and the Chancellor began to crawl through the elevator, and stood on the wall of the shaft, seeing as the ship was flying on its side. They began to jog down the shaft, toward the hangar where the Jedi had left their ships. The ship suddenly righted itself as the crew kicked in the emergency booster engines.

Anakin and the Chancellor began sliding down the shaft, feeling around for a handhold. Anakin finally found one, and kept one hand clenched to the shaft and the other on Obi-Wan, while the Chancellor gripped to his ankles. Obi-Wan pulled out of his unconsciousness with a thud. "Ah!" he mumbled, and scrambled to get a better hold onto Anakin.

"Easy!" Anakin told him, "We're in a bit of a situation here."

"Did I…miss something?"

"Hold on."

"What is that?" Obi-Wan asked as a shudder rumbled through the shaft.

"Oops…Artoo shut down the elevator shaft."

"Too late, jump" Anakin let go of the elevator, and they began sliding down the shaft, racing the elevator to their destination. Anakin threw a grappling hook onto one of the doors of the elevator. All three took hold and they swung through the doorway onto the floor. The trio stood up. "Let's see if we can find something in the hangar that's still flyable."

"Artoo, get down here!" Anakin spoke into the communicator. They began walking to the hangar, when the ray shields were activated and they were stopped in their tracks. "Ray shields," Anakin sighed.

"Wait a minute," Obi-Wan cried, "how did this happen, we're smarter than this!"

"Apparently not," Anakin mumbled, "I say patience."

"Patience?"

"Yes…Artoo will be along in a minute…and then he'll release the ray shields." Just then a side door along the hallway opened and R2D2 came screaming in, knocking against the wall with a thud. "See? No problem." But after R2 came two destroyer droids, they crawled onto their pointy legs just as security and battle droids came into the hallway as well. One of the security droids kicked over R2.

"Do you have a plan B?"

The group was led into the cockpit to consult with General Grievous. "Ah yes," said the living droid in a raspy voice. "General Kenobi, the Negotiator. We've been waiting for you. That wasn't much of a rescue." One of the battle droids handed Grievous the Jedi's light sabers, and he took them while he laughed huskily. "And Anakin Skywalker…I was expecting someone of your reputation to be a little…older."

"General Grievous," Anakin said with a disdainful look on his face, "you're shorter than I expected."

The General scoffed, "Jedi scum."

"We have a job to do, Anakin," Obi-Wan told his former Padawan coolly. "Try not to upset him."

"Your light sabers will make a fine addition to my collection." Grievous said as he clipped the light sabers to a rack underneath his cloak, next to four other unlucky trophies.

"Not this time, and this time, you won't escape."

"Artoo!" Anakin said, cueing the droid to send his blue sparks flying to unhook Obi-Wan's handcuffs. The experienced Jedi used the force to pull his blade to him, and in one smooth move, he had Anakin freed of his manacles as well.

"Crush them!" Grievous commanded, shaking with rage. "Make them suffer!" He backed away as his specialized security droids engaged in a struggle with the Jedi. Obi-Wan made quick work of one of the droids, cutting the other's electric spear in pieces, and began parrying at the droid. The two Jedi worked tirelessly to destroy the droids, and with cuts to the metal torso, they finally did. Anakin quickly destroyed two battle droids that had been carting away the Chancellor, and while he was at it, he cut off the handcuffs confining the Chancellor.

"Don't bother with them!" The General cried to two battle droids at the controls, "Keep the ship in orbit!" Grievous picked up one of the electric spears that had been discarded by one of his now disassembled guards. "You lose, General Kenobi," Grievous told the approaching Jedi as he threw the spear like a javelin into the dashboard window. The crack in the window spider webbed into a big problem.

The glass broke, and the shatters were sucked into space. The Jedi grabbed hold of a control panel in just enough time, as Grievous was sucked out the window. The robot General shot a grappling hook out onto the side of the ship to keep him from being thrown aimlessly into space. His feet gripped the side of the ship, and he began to walk up the side. Meanwhile, Anakin and Obi-Wan held their breath, struggling to keep their hold on the control panel. A metal shield closed over the window, and the airlock was sealed again. The Jedi let go, and were able to breathe freely.

Grievous re-entered the ship, into the escape pod room. He began, laughing, one-by-one to deploy all the pods but one; the one for himself. The Jedi fought off more battle droids in the control room, unaware that their chances of escape were becoming slimmer. "All the escape pods have been launched," Anakin told Obi-Wan grimly.

"Grievous," Obi-Wan mumbled as the two Jedi advanced across the small room,

"Can you fly a cruiser like this?"

"You mean do I know how to land what's left of this thing?" Anakin asked rhetorically as he took a seat in the pilot's chair.

"Well?"

"Well under the circumstances," Anakin said as Obi-Wan and the Chancellor each took seats behind him. "I'd say the ability to pilot this thing is irrelevant. Strap yourselves in." Anakin turned back to the controls with a grim, determined expression. "Open all hatches, extend all flaps and drive fins." The control room lurched as even more of the ship fell off into space. "We…lost something."

"Not to worry, we are still flying HALF a ship."

"Now we're really picking up speed," Anakin said with a smile as the burning ship began to quickly ascend upon the Coruscant atmosphere. Scraps began flying off the burning ship, as the ship gained even more speed.

"Eight plus…sixty… We're in the atmosphere."

"Grab that," Anakin pointed to a lever on Obi-Wan's left. "Keep us level." The ship, soaring now through the Coruscant sky at unbelievable speed, had become less of a ship, and more of a flaming asteroid.

"Steady."

"Easy Artoo!" Anakin cried as ships swerved around them as they veered to a clear landing strip where they could land what was left of the cruiser.

"Five thousand, five ships on the left and the right." The ships on either side of the cruiser began to spray them with water, trying to cool down the ship a little before its inevitable impact with the ground. "Landing strip straight ahead!"

"We're coming in too hot!" Anakin said, but brought the ship down to the landing ship anyway. The cruiser made an awful screech as its hull hit the ground. It skidded quite a ways, and as it did, the bottom of the hull was turning into a cloud of hot ash and smoke. The cruiser finally skidded to a stop. Lurching the foursome in the control room. Everyone took a sigh of relief.

"Another happy landing," Obi-Wan said with a relieved laugh, running a hand through his hair."

They were taken from the landing strip to the Galactic Council arena in one of the Chancellor's own, private, shuttles. They filed out slowly, the Chancellor first, meeting his fellow diplomats, with R2 following behind him. Anakin stepped out of the ship, searching the crowd for the only face he wanted to see; she wasn't there. "Are you coming, Master?" Anakin asked Obi-Wan, who leaned against the doorframe in the shuttle.

"Oh no," he said jovially, "I'm not brave enough for politics. I have to report to the council. Besides, someone needs to be the poster boy."

"Hold on! This whole operation was your idea!"

"Let us not forget that _you_ saved me from the buzz droids. You killed Count Dooku, rescued the Chancellor, carrying _me_ unconscious on your back." Anakin stood in dismay a moment, because he had just assumed the Sith Lord was dead, because he hadn't actually killed him. But he shook it off.

"All because of your training," Anakin said, teasing, but humble.

"Anakin lets be fair. Today, _you_ were the hero. And you deserve your _glorious_ day with the politicians."

Anakin sighed, "You owe me one, and not for saving your skin for the tenth time!"

"Ninth time; that business on Cato Neomodia doesn't-doesn't count. I'll see you at the briefing." With that, Obi-Wan turned back into the shuttle, heading off to the Jedi Council, while Anakin and R2 headed toward the cluster of politicians.

"Chancellor Palpatine," asked Mace Windu, "are you alright?"

"Yes," Palpatine sighed, "thanks to your two Jedi Knights. They killed Count Dooku, but General Grievous has escaped once again." Anakin, upon hearing his assumption being presumed again, shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot.

"General Grievous will run and hide as he always does. He's a coward."

"But with Count Dooku dead, he is the leader of the droid army. And I can assure you the Senate will vote to continue the war as long as he is alive."

"Then the Jedi Council will make finding Grievous our highest priority." Mace Windu bowed his head for the Chancellor and let him pass.

"The Republic cannot thank you enough," Bail Organa said to Anakin as the politicians began walking back into the enormous building.

"Thank you, Senator Organa."

"But the fighting will continue until General Grievous is spare…parts." Anakin's gaze flittered to behind a pillar, and his breath caught in his throat for a moment.

"Well, I will do everything I can in the senate."

"Excuse me," Anakin said, walking away from the Senator, but it wasn't long before he broke for Padme in a run. He reached her and embraced her, wrapping his arms around her. She took his head in between her palms and kissed his cheek. He held her face gently, as if she were made of porcelain, and kissed her.

"Oh Anakin," Padme sighed, throwing her arms up around his neck, and pulling herself as close to him as she could.

"I've missed you, Padme."

"There were…whispers…that you'd been killed…" Padme said, having a hard time collecting herself and controlling her breathing.

"I'm all right," Anakin smiled, laughing a little, relieved to be around her again. "Feels like we've been apart for a lifetime; I might have been if the Chancellor hadn't been kidnapped, I didn't think they'd ever bring us back from the outer rim sieges." Anakin's voice dropped to a low whisper. He went to kiss her again, but she stopped him.

"Wait, not here."

"Yes, here! I'm tired of all this deception; I don't care if they know we're married."

"Anakin, don't say things like that!" He gave her a gentle hug, but the look on her face still seemed distressed.

"Are you alright?" Anakin asked, concern troubling his handsome face. "You're trembling. What's going on?"

"Something wonderful has happened. Annie, I'm…pregnant."

Anakin searched her face for a moment as he comprehended what she'd just said. "That's…ah…" he sighed, "that's, well that's wonderful." His face broke out into a smile again.

"What are we going to do?"

"We're not going to worry about anything right now, alright? This is a happy moment. The happiest moment of my life." Anakin leaned down, and kissed her, this time she didn't object, and she almost fell into his arms with relief.

"General Grievous."

"Yes, Lord Sidious?"

"I suggest you move the Separatist leaders to Mustafar."

"It will be done, my lord."

"The end of the war is near, General."

"But the loss of Count Dooku…"

"His death was…a necessary loss. Soon I will have a new apprentice. One far younger and more powerful."

Anakin stood in the doorway of Padme's balcony and silently watched her comb through her hair. He smiled to himself; he loved to watch her eyes wander across the Coruscant skyline. "Annie," she said, "I want to have our baby back home on Naboo. We can go to the lake country where no one will know, where we can be safe. I can go early and fix up the baby's room." She turned to look at Anakin, curling a lock of hair around her finger as he just smiled at her in response.

"I know the perfect spot," she continued, "right by the gardens."

"You're so…beautiful," Anakin whispered to her.

"It's only because I'm so in love."

"No," Anakin laughed, "No, it's because _I'm_ so in love with _you_."

"So love has blinded you?" Padme asked, fake confusion spread across her face, teasing him.

"Well, that's not exactly what I meant."

"That's probably true."

_**A baby's cries broke the silence, Padme groans from the pain, "Anakin help me!" she cries, tears falling across her face, "help me Anakin, please! Please, please." Her pleas fall short as she has to suck in another breath, before she screams…**_

Anakin woke up as the whispery remains of a baby's cry ring in his ears. He was breathing heavily, sweat beading across his chest. He looked over at Padme, as if to confirm that she was still alright, not in pain. Her sleeping form was peaceful, as the covers moved with her body as she breathed, slow and steady. Still breathing unevenly, he gently pulled the covers off him, and swung his legs over the side of the bed quietly. He held in a strangled sob-like sigh as he covered his face with his hands, curling over so his elbows rested on his thighs. He sat like that until his breathing slowed and returned to normal. He then stood up quietly, grabbed his shirt, and slid out onto the balcony as he slipped it on around him. Padme stirred as the balance of Anakin's weight was offset as he stood up. She raised her head in just enough time to see him slip into the hallway, and then he was out of her sight.

Anakin sat by himself on the landing bay portion of the balcony, staring into the city scrapes of Coruscant, but all he saw was Padme's distorted face as she screamed in his nightmares. Padme came up next to him, quietly, and stroked the side of his face with her fingertips. "What's bothering you?" she crooned, her voice soft and kind, warm and inviting.

He sighed, "Nothing," he whispered, picking up the small wooden carving she kept on a twine around her neck. He fingered it gently, "I remember when I gave this to you." He smiled a little to himself, but _only_ a little.

"How long," she sighed, "is it going to take for us to be honest with each other?"

Anakin let go of the carving and his smile dropped. "It was a dream."

"Bad?"

"Like the ones I used to have about my mother…just before she died…"

"And…?"

"And…it was about you."

"Tell me," Padme ran her hand across his back soothingly.

"Ha," he exhaled sharply, "it was only a dream."

"You die in childbirth."

"And the baby?"

"I don't know," Anakin sobbed, sending Padme running to him.

"It was only a dream…"

"I won't let this on become real."

"It won't, Anakin, it won't. I'm stronger than you think, stronger than I used to be, even. I can fight like a Jedi, Anakin."

"You think that fighting like a Jedi makes you stronger?"

"It does, at least for me. This baby _will_ change our lives. I doubt the Queen will allow me to continue serving in the Senate, and if the council discovers _you're_ the father…you'll be expelled…"

"I know…I know."

"Do you think…Obi-Wan might be able to help us?"

"We may need his help."

"Then ask him, Anakin. Tomorrow if you can. This is a problem we cannot ignore."

"Our baby is a _blessing_."


	5. Chapter 5

_**Chapter Five:**_

Anakin sat with Master Yoda in mediation. The blinds were closed, but yellow light from the Coruscant sun filtered through anyway, making everything Anakin saw have yellow stripes running across it. "Premonitions…?" Master Yoda hummed, "Premonitions, hmmm… These visions you have…?"

"They are of pain," Anakin said, his tone grim, and his hope grimmer, "Suffering….death."

"Yourself, you speak of? Or someone...you know?"

Anakin paused for a long while, unsure what to tell the master. "Someone."

"Close to you?"

Anakin hung his head, "Yes."

"Careful you must be, Anakin, when sensing the future. Fear of loss is a path to the dark side."

Anakin's mind was flooded with fear for a moment, hesitation of what to say spilled through him. "I will not let these visions come true, master."

"Death is a natural part of life. Rejoice for those around you who become one with the force. Mourn them do not, miss them do not. Attachment leads to jealousy, the shadow of greed, that is."

"What must I _do_, Master Yoda?"

"Train yourself to _let go_ of everything you fear to lose." But Anakin knew that was the one thing he could not do for the Jedi. Not Padme, and not their baby, either.

"You missed the report on the outer rim procedures," Obi-Wan told Anakin, as the troubled Jedi Knight walked into the map room to converse with his former master.

"I'm sorry," Anakin grunted, "I was held up. I have not excuse."

"In short, they are going very well. Silokomar has fallen, and Master Voss has moved his troops to Bosvitti."

"What's wrong then?"

"The Senate is expected to vote more executive powers to the Chancellor today."

"Well that can only mean less deliberating and more action. Is that bad? It will make it easier for us to end this war."

"Be careful of your friend Palpatine."

"Be careful of what?"

"He has requested your presence."

"What for?"

"He would not say."

"He didn't inform the council? That's unusual, isn't it?"

"All of this is unusual. And it's making me feel uneasy."

"Master," Anakin said, letting his voice drop lower than usual, "I need your guidance on something. Something…important."

"What is it, Anakin? What's wrong?"

"Nothing's…_wrong_…exactly… We must speak later. But now, I must see what need the Chancellor has of me."

Anakin stood with Chancellor Palpatine in his office, overlooking Coruscant. "I hope you trust me, Anakin."

"Of course."

"I need your help, son."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm depending on you."

"For what, I don't understand…" Anakin was beginning to feel uneasy, but he followed the Chancellor anyway, as he walked towards the door of the office.

"To be the eyes, ears, and voice of the Republic. Anakin, I am appointing you to be my personal representative in the Jedi Council."

"Me, a Master, I am overwhelmed, sir. The council elects its own members. They will never accept this."

"I think they will… They need you, more than you know."

Anakin and Obi-Wan sat in a pub in the downtown streets of Coruscant. They ordered two drinks, and Anakin pondered what he would tell his former Master as they waited for them to arrive. "There are things which I feel must be said between the two of us…" Anakin began, taking a long, slow sip of his drink. "Things that have gone on, possibly without your knowing."

"Yes, Anakin?"

"Do you remember, after our first encounter with Count Dooku, when he severed my arm?"

"Yes."

"Shortly after that, when I escorted Padme back to Naboo… Well, we got married, Obi-Wan."

"Anakin, that is against the Jedi ways!"

"I know, Master, I know. But I love her. And now, now I'm afraid of losing her."

"Anakin, these are dark feelings! You must let go of them…"

"That is what Master Yoda advised as well, but Obi-Wan, I cannot do that. That is the one thing I _cannot _do for the order. I love her too much. And…and now…"

"Now…_what_…?"

"She is due to have a baby. And to make matters worse… Do you remember the nightmares I used to have about my mother?"

"Yes, Anakin, I do."

"I am having visions like those, about _her_, that she will die in childbirth. She says that she is strong enough, but I am not so sure. I will _not_ let those visions become _true,_ Obi-Wan."

"Anakin, how could you let this happen? Did I not teach you the ways of the Jedi well enough, or were you just not paying attention?!"

"I am sorry, Obi-Wan, deeply, I am. But my apologies are a matter for a different time. I must save her, Obi-Wan. She is the most important thing in my life, and so is our child. Will you help me, my dear friend?"

"Anakin, your commitment to the Jedi Order should be the most important thing in your life. I _must_ tell the council. But perhaps, together, we can find a way to help you."

"Thank you, Master. But I will be, expelled, won't I?"

"Anakin, it is either Padme or the Order. You cannot have both." Anakin bowed his head. There was no doubt in his mind which was more important, to him at least. In the great scheme of things, Jedi were greatly needed and appreciated in the galaxy, and Anakin Skywalker may have been one of the best of all; was said to be the chosen one. But Anakin had chosen something different. He wanted more, when Jedi should not want for anything at all. Anakin had formed a deep, unrelenting attachment to Padme, one he was not going to allow to pass from his life.

"Allow this appointment lightly, the council does not," Yoda told Anakin as he stood in the middle of the council, being appraised.

"Master Yoda," Obi-Wan said, and Anakin hung his head, in preparation for the inevitable. "And my other esteemed colleagues on the council, there are matters we must discuss, matters directly affecting Anakin's appointment onto this council."

"Is this true, Young Skywalker?"

"Yes," Anakin sighed. "And if it is allowed by the council, I would like to make my case myself. I have no excuses, but I want there to be as little shame in this as I can help."

"Speak then, Skywalker," Mace Windu said without patience.

"I have done, what is to a Jedi, unthinkable. But I do not regret it. I have married," the council members gasped, "and I and my wife are now expecting a child. She is the best thing that has ever happened to me."

"Predicted by the council, this was not," said Yoda, his eyebrows furrowing. "Discuss this matter, the council must."

"Your chances to stay in the order, despite the many battles you have won for us, look grim, Skywalker. I hope you enjoy what you've done." Anakin nodded, and left the council. He hopped into his speeder and went to meet Padme at her apartments.

"What's wrong, Anakin?"

"I informed Obi-Wan, and the Council."

"And…?"

"And they are to discuss matters. The do not look good."

"Anakin, I'm so sorry. I-I did not mean for this to happen…"

"I know, Padme," Anakin strode forward and wrapped his arms around her, "there is nothing wrong. You mean more to me than the council."

"Don't say things like that!"

"It's true, Padme. I'd give up the Order to save you. I love you."

"I love you too, Anakin. Are you sure you did not act irrationally, when you informed the council?"

"I knew when I told Obi-Wan he would inform them. So between the two of us we presented the matter to the council. I am hoping they can give me guidance about the visions when they inform me of their decision. The opportune time did not present itself today."

"Aren't you going to miss the Order?"

"A little, but there's nothing I can do about that now."

"Anakin," Yoda wheezed as the young Skywalker entered the council chambers, "matters to discuss with you, we have."

"Yes, Master Yoda."

"Your oath in this order," said Mace Windu coldly, "will no longer be permitted."

"I understand, Master. May I ask one thing of the council, before I go?"

"Anakin, as a Jedi," Yoda said, already enlightened to Anakin's obvious question, "know what you would have to do, you would. My advice to you would be to let the attachment pass from you life. Told you this before, I did. But a Jedi now, you are not. Use your judgment, you must. Take advantage of your teachings, you should."

"Thank you, Master." Anakin sighed, and stood before the council. He knew they were looking at him with shame for his actions, all but perhaps Obi-Wan. He kept his head high. A Jedi now, or not, he was Anakin Skywalker, and he had pride.

"You may go now, Skywalker," Mace Windu dismissed him, and Anakin walked through the halls of the Jedi Temple. Joining those in the archives called, "The Lost Twenty," he became twenty-one.

Obi-Wan trailed after Anakin, as he found his way back to the hangar in which he'd left his speeder. "Anakin, I don't want to put you in this situation…"

"What situation?"

"The council wants you to report on all the Chancellor's dealings. They want to know what he's up to."

"They want me to spy on the Chancellor? That's treason!"

"We are at war, Anakin."

"Why didn't the council tell me this when we were in session?"

"This assignment is not to be on record."

"The Chancellor is not a bad man, Obi-Wan. He's befriended me. He's watched out for me ever since I arrived here."

"That is why you must help us. I know it is no longer your duty to serve the Jedi Council, but please, do what is right for the Republic. Our allegiance, as citizens of the Republic, is to the Senate. Not to its leader, who's managed to stay in office _long _after his term has expired…"

"The senate _demanded_ that he stay longer."

"Search your feelings Anakin, something is _out of place_."

"You're asking me to do something against the Republic, against a friend, and a mentor. That's what is out of place here. Why are you asking this of me?"

"The _council_ is asking you."

"Sometimes I wonder what's happening to the Jedi Order," Anakin told Padme with a sigh as they sat together on the couch in her apartments. "I think this war is destroying the principles of the Republic."

"Have you ever considered that we might be on the wrong side?" Padme asked, quietly voicing her thoughts aloud.

"What do you mean?" His eyebrows furrowed, confused.

"What if the democracy we've been fighting to uphold no longer exists? What if the Republic has become the very evil we sought to destroy? This war represents a failure to listen; you're closer to the Chancellor than anyone. Please, ask him to stop the fighting and let diplomacy resume."

"Padme, that kind of request belongs in the Senate." Anakin sighed, fighting to suppress the frustration he felt inside of him. "The council has asked me to report on the Chancellor's dealings, and now you are asking me to persuade him to end the war. I do not like this war any more than you do, but I don't want to get involved in Palpatine's decisions."

"Alright, Anakin, I respect that. I was just…asking." Padme stood up, and walked to Anakin, she put her hands on his chest, "Hold me, like you did by the lake on Naboo. So long ago, when there was nothing but our love." Anakin did as she asked, wrapping his arms around her as she rested her head upon his shoulder.

"No politics, no plotting…no war," Padme continued.

"I wish we could go back to then," Anakin whispered, closing his eyes as she was.

Anakin ran up the steps to the playhouse, to the Chancellor's box. He passed by people, all dressed up in their formal wear for a night on the town with a lover, family, colleagues, or friends. He ran to the hallway, and slowed to a walk to keep from drawing too much attention to himself. He stopped by the Chancellor's chair, stooping because of his height, "You wanted to see me, Chancellor?"

"Yes, Anakin come closer, I have good news." Anakin squatted down beside the Chancellor's chair, keeping his eyes glued to the tangible orb in the center of the playhouse. "Our clone intelligence units have discovered the location of General Grievous. He's hiding in the Utapau system."

"At last, they'll be able to catch that monster and end this war."

"I would worry about the collective knowledge of the council if they didn't choose you for this assignment." Anakin turned his head from the orbs in the center of the room to look at the Chancellor.

"I…am no longer a member of the Jedi Order."

Palpatine motioned for the senators around them to leave. "Sit down."

"Anakin, you know I am not able to rely on the Jedi Council, and if they hadn't already involved you in their plot, they were soon going to."

"I'm not sure I understand."

"You must sense what I have come to suspect. The Jedi Council wants control of the Republic. They are planning to betray me."

"I don't think that they're-"

"Anakin, search your feelings. You know, don't you?"

"I…know they don't trust you."

"Or the Senate, or the Republic, or _democracy_, for that matter. Remember back to your early teachings, 'all who gain power are afraid to lose it.' _Even_ the Jedi."

"The _Jedi_ use their power for _good_."

"Good is a point of view, Anakin. The Sith and the Jedi are similar in almost every way, including their quest for greater power."

"The Sith rely on their passion for their strength. They think inwards, only about themselves."

"And the Jedi don't?"

"The Jedi are selfless, they only care about others." Anakin and the Chancellor locked eyes for a moment, and Anakin saw their every clash in opinion flash through that one gaze. He looked away and in the sudden silence that ensued between them, he took the time to study the playhouse.

"Did you ever hear the tragedy, of Darth Plageous, the Wise?"

"No."

"I thought not, it's not a story the Jedi would tell you. It's a sith legend. Darth Plageous, was a dark lord of the sith, so powerful and so wise, he could use the Force to influence the midichlorians in those around him to create life. He had such knowledge of the Dark Side; he could even keep the ones he cared about from dying."

"He could actually…_save_ people, from dying?"

"The Dark Side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some would consider to be…unnatural."

"Wh-what happened to him?"

"He became so powerful the only thing he was afraid of was…losing his power, which, eventually, of course, he did. Unfortunately, he taught his apprentice everything he knew, and then his apprentice killed him in his sleep. Ironic, he could save others from death, but not himself." The Chancellor smiled, a smile gleaming with demonic pleasure, a smile that chilled Anakin to the bone.

"You're going to need me on this one, Master," Anakin told Obi-Wan with a sad smile as he walked with Obi-Wan to his speeder.

"Oh I don't doubt it. But it may turn out to be just a wild bantha chase."

"Master, I've disappointed you. I didn't appreciate your teachings, and I've been arrogant. If I disgraced you with my actions lately, I'm sorry."

"You are strong and wise, Anakin. Everyone has their own destiny, and evidently Padme is a part of yours. I've trained you since you were a small boy, and you became far greater a Jedi than I could ever hope to be. You will work your way through this, I have no doubt about _that_. But be patient Anakin, these are troubling times; times when you cannot afford to lose your head." He smiled and nodded to Anakin, who smiled and nodded back.

"Obi-Wan, may the force be with you." Anakin told his friend as he walked to his ship.

"Good-bye, old friend, may the force with you, as well."

"I sense a plot to destroy the Jedi," said Mace Windu to his Council colleagues, in his usual business-like, grim manner. "The Dark Side of the Force surrounds the Chancellor."

"If he does not give up his emergency powers after the destruction of Grievous, then he should be removed from office," said Ki Adi Mundi's hologram to the rest of the holographic council.

"The Jedi Council would have to take control the Senate in order to secure a peaceful transition."

"To a dark place this line of thought will carry us. Great care we must take."

Anakin received a transition from Obi-Wan Kenobi, saying he had engaged General Grievous in battle, and asked him to relay the message to Chancellor Palpatine. "I don't know why I continue to get myself involved in the affairs of the Jedi," muttered Anakin to himself as he headed to the Chancellor's office.

The Chancellor was sitting at his desk, looking at blueprints for something or another when Anakin approached. "Chancellor, I have just received a transmission from Obi-Wan Kenobi, saying he has engaged General Grievous."

"We can only hope that master Kenobi is up to the challenge."

"I know there are things about the Force the Council did not tell me."

"They know that one day your power will be too great to control. You must break through the fog of lies the Jedi have created around you. Let me help you to know the _subtleties_ of the Force.

"How do you know the ways of the Force?"

"My _mentor _taught me everything about the Force…even the nature of the Dark Side."

"You know the Dark Side?" Anakin's mind was swimming around him, like everything he knew about all that was good was coming crashing down around him.

"Anakin, if one is to understand the great mystery; one must study all its aspects, not just the dogmatic, narrow view of the Jedi. If you wish to become a complete and wise ruler, you must embrace…a _larger _view of the Force. Be careful of the Jedi, Anakin. Only through me can you achieve power greater than any Jedi. Learn to know the Dark Side of the Force, and you will be able to save your wife from certain death."

The way Palpatine smiled made Anakin cringe, the sick, twisted curve of the Chancellor's smile as he said the word "death" made Anakin think his mentor enjoyed thinking about it.

"What did you say?"

"Use my knowledge, I beg you." Anakin ignited his lightsaber.

"You're the sith lord!" Anakin accused, his lungs constricting from the pain of learning someone he revered so highly was his worst enemy.

"I _know_ what's been troubling you. Listen to me; don't continue to be a pawn of the Jedi Council! Ever since I've know you, you've been searching for a life greater than that of an ordinary Jedi. A life of significance, of conscience." The Chancellor walked a few paces forward. Anakin followed him with his blade. "Are you going to kill me?"

"I would certainly like to."

"I know you would," Palpatine breathed, "I can feel your anger; it gives you focus, makes you stronger."

Anakin closed his lightsaber, "I am going to turn you over to the Jedi Council."

"Of course, you should. But you're not sure of their intentions, are you?"

"I will quickly discover the truth of all this."

"You have great wisdom, Anakin. Know the power of the Dark Side. The power…to save Padme."

Anakin rushed back to Padme's apartments, to find her lying on the couch in what must have been a very uncomfortable angle, breathing extremely irregularly, with a handmaiden by her side, holding her hand. He rushed to her side, and took her hand from the handmaiden. "What's wrong Padme?"

"Anakin," she wheezed, "I'm going into labor!"

"Oh no," he breathed, taking a deep breath. "Alright, then, let's go get you to a hospital unit." He picked her up, and carried her to her ship. He took control at the cock pit and they flew to the nearest treatment facility; small buildings off the Senate arena.

"Anakin," Padme cried, "don't leave me, please!"

"Shh," he whispered, picking her up out the seat and carrying her inside, "Shh, of course I won't." Once inside the hospital unit, they were quickly taken into a room, and medical droids were sent to assist her.

Anakin sat by her side, wishing desperately there was more he could do as she screamed and moaned. She squeezed his hand, and he took his cold metal hand and put it to her forehead to wipe some of the sweat that had perspired there. As the medical droid made a sighing noise, it said, "It's a boy."

"Luke," Padme wheezed, she outstretched her hands so she could cradle her child, but the medical droid handed him to Anakin.

"There is one more, Miss Padme."

"One…more?" Anakin asked, astounded, as he held his son in his arms.

"It's a girl," the medical droid pronounced a few minutes later.

"Leia," Padme said, without missing a beat. This time when she outstretched her arms, the medical droid complied, and handed her her little baby girl. She sighed, and took one of Anakin's hands with her own. "See, Annie, I told you everything would turn out alright."

Anakin sighed with relief, "Yes, you were right." He did not bother to tell her, not yet, that his subconscious was not going to be cleared any time soon, with such troubling matters on the horizon. But Anakin shook that dreadful feeling off, and handed Padme Luke. As he looked between Padme, Luke, and Leia, he thought to himself that they must be the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Chapter Six:**___

Anakin watched Padme as she cradled the twins in her arms less than a week later. "Padme…I…there's something we need to discuss," he said lightly, ruffling her hair a little as he said it.

"Yes, what is it, Anakin?"

"Chancellor Palpatine…he is the Sith Lord Darth Sidious."

"What? No! Anakin, how could he be?"

"I am not entirely sure of how he came to be one, but he is a sith as certainly as I am sitting before you."

"Are you _sure_?"

"I wish I wasn't."

"Then we must confront him!"

"We…Padme no, it's too dangerous!"

"Anakin, I _do_ know how to fight! And you will _need_ me!"

"I can't…I can't _lose_ you, Padme! I just _can't_! I can handle anything the Jedi could throw at me, battle any sith, and face the consequences bravely, but losing you is the only thing I just. Can't. _Do._" Anakin looked into her eyes, hoping that she would see reason, choose not to fight for her way, just this once.

"Annie, I can't help you! I've taught myself _well_, I can handle myself, _please_!"

"Remember what happened to Qui-Gon Jinn? He was a great Jedi, and he was well-experienced, but the sith are deadly, and lethal."

"I'm not about to lose you either! We stand a better chance if there are two of us!"

Anakin looked at her, then at his two children in her arms. He took Leia from her, and cradled the little baby girl. Her big brown eyes were open, and he down into them, hoping she would have as much determination and spunk as his wife. He would do this for them, for his family. He needed to protect Luke and Leia, and he needed all the help he could get, even if it was the help he most reluctantly accepted. With a sigh, "Alright, against my better judgment, alright; you would probably follow after me whether I wished it or not."

He ran a hand through his hair and stood up, "Let's go, before I change my mind." Anakin leaned over, kissed both children on the forehead, and waited for Padme at the door of the apartments while she took the twins to a handmaiden. They used Padme's personal speeder to race to the Chancellor's office to confront the Lord of the sith.

"Hello Anakin, Senator," Palpatine said with a nod, as cool and calm as ever.

"Don't play games, Chancellor, we all know why we're here," Anakin said grimly, not relishing the on-coming battle with his one-time mentor.

"Surrender to the Council, Sidious, or die," Padme said, her fingers quivering with nervousness.

"Now, now, Miss Padme, you are not a Jedi."

"Don't be so sure," she said, a smile creeping over her face.

"Oh, Anakin, so full of secrets; tsk tsk, what would the _Council_ think?"

"The Council is not my concern. My loyalty is to the _Republic_ and the others loyal to it."

"My _young_ friend, we are working toward the same goal. I, too, am _loyal_ to the Republic."

"A sith is only loyal to _himself_. The Republic deserves better than such a corrupt leader."

"Anakin, see _reason_!"

"Fine then, _aggressive_ negotiations it _is_." Anakin and Padme ignited their light sabers, and leaped toward the Chancellor, still sitting calmly in his chair.

"Oh, 'tis a pity." His blade appeared swiftly in his hand, and he ignited it with haste- deep ruby, the true color of the sith.

Sidious was fast. Anakin and Padme were just as fast. Ruby on emerald, emerald and blue topaz working together; Sidious would get by Anakin's defense, Padme would block him, Padme's saber would slip from her grip, Anakin would cover her. This new team was impenetrable…

So Sidious would have to play dirty.

He threw Anakin against the back wall. Anakin jumped up, but Sidious held him back with force lightning. As he saw his life flash before his eyes, he thought of Padme. Strong though she was, he did not think she was strong enough to beat Sidious on her own. He also though of their children, what would happen to them if he failed?

Padme was struggling against Sidious. Anakin could see she was getting weaker. He was not strong enough to break free of the force lightning that ailed him so…but he loved her. With all his energy, he was able to leap up, but the lightning forced him down again. He pleaded with the midi-clorians inside him; exhausted though he was, he struggled with the force to drag his lightsaber to him. He looked up at Padme, she was noticeably weaker, she couldn't last much longer, but nether could he.

Sidious struck her, across the chest as she loosened her defense to stop for breath. Padme fell back, close to death.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Anakin screamed, his lips peeling back over his teeth, his anger flowed through the room, giving him the strength to jump to his feet, sending Sidious crashing through the large window-wall of the office.

Anakin ran to Padme, he knelt over her, and cradled her in his arms. From his eyes flowed teardrops like falling diamonds; clear and pure. "Oh, Padme," he moaned, "This is what I was afraid of! I shouldn't have let you come!"

"Anakin, don't blame yourself," Padme whispered, with a ragged breath, "you would be dead now, if you had come alone. He's just too strong."

"Padme, I love you. I can't lose you. Hold in there, I'll get you to a medic. Please, be strong, for Luke, Leia…for _me_."

"Anakin," Padme reached out to stroke his cheek, "it's no good."

"Padme, _please_!" He started to stand, and lift her up as he did, but her feeble voice stopped him.

"Watch-" she drew in a long, painful breath, "over Luke and Leia…until we're…together again. I love you, Anakin."

"I love you too, don't-don't leave me."

"I won't; I'll always be with you." Padme's eyes closed, and they would never again open.

Anakin held his wife's dead body to his chest, he kissed her forehead, her lips, her cheek, but she was gone, and he wept. "I love you Padme," he cried, "so much."

Anakin, in his despair, had not noticed Sidious clutching the windowsill to survive. The sith used the Force now to pull himself back into the room. "This is not over Anakin."

"Yes, Sidious, it is." Anakin picked up Padme and walked to the door, "for now."

Sidious stepped into the middle of the room; Anakin was too preoccupied with Padme to kill him. He picked up Padme's green-bladed light saber.

It was constructed similar to Anakin's, slender handle, but wider at the top and bottom. "What should I do with _this_," Sidious hummed to himself. To destroy a light saber outside of battle seemed almost as crude as a cold-blooded murder, even to the cruelest of sith. He needed to hide it somewhere, but where?

"Tatooine."

It was a dark day for Naboo, the clouds as dark as night over the lake, mourning for the return of the greatest ruler the planet had ever seen. No bells rang; no one spoke, the weeping of the citizens in the streets carried on silently. The only noise was the sound of one's man's suppressed cries, only the ragged breaths his body mangled from despair escaped. Millions stood in the street to watch the mournful procession. Two white horses carried the casket, with the beautiful cadaver openly displayed. Her gown was the same blue that graced the waters of Naboo, her pregnancy bump still visible, and those who saw it passed their eyes to the children in her husband's arms. Her hair cascaded around her in braids, tiny white flowers peeked from her chocolate curls; her devoted handmaidens' last chance to serve their mistress. In her fingers was the wooden necklace her mournful husband had carved for her so many years before. Her face was not quite peaceful, only a little hint of perturb, a hint so subtle only those who knew her well could detect. The look was almost one of pity, as if she knew the terrible events to come; the betrayal about to happen.

The first in the procession was Anakin, suppressing the cries still wanting to come out. He held the twins in his arms, even the young children sensing the gloom of the event, and the new absence of their mother. The next in the procession were her parents, holding their heads high, as all Amidalas would. Next her sister, and her children, keeping their heads steady, though a little confused by the death of their aunt. After all her family had passed, came Jar-Jar Binks as well as other friends and political associates mourning the intelligent and daring influence of the late Senator. Amongst them was the current Queen of Naboo, elegant in a silver kimono and headdress, face painted in the usual white, her face as blatantly mournful as everyone else.

When Padme Amidala Skywalker's body had seen its last of the world, Anakin and her parents went to the palace with the Queen. "I give my condolences to all of you," she said, her eyes wet as all that had attended the moving funeral. "Padme was the greatest Queen and Senator Naboo has ever seen. We will miss her greatly."

With that, her family left to their lakeside residence, Anakin following them with Luke and Leia. They sat down to a very quiet dinner, after which the Amidala's took turns holding the twins. "Anakin…raise them well," said Padme's mother. Anakin nodded, unable to speak for the silent tears streaming down his face, "Let them know how much she loved them; how much you love them…and perhaps most importantly, how much _you_ loved her."

"Please do not speak of her love as a past-tense entity, for it is not," Anakin said quietly, barely more audible than a whisper. "Her love is still in this world, from the help she brought to the galaxy, to the Senators that became less corrupt working beside her, to Luke and Leia, to _you_, to the changes her love brought in _me_. Her memory will live on, well loved, in her people, and in her children."

"Spoken well, Anakin," said Padme's father, a man who was jolly on most occasions, his dismal expression rare on his time-warn face. "You are very wise, it is easy to see how you drew her to you, ay?" He winked at his son-in-law half heartedly.

Desiree had been able to hide her son from the rest of her family for three years, because she knew that if they knew about him, they would disown her. So one day, as she walked her son through the streets of the large city on Corellia, she wondered what would be best for her little boy. She loved him very much, and if he had been born under different circumstances, her family would have accepted him. But these were not different circumstances.

Her family was visiting her for the first time in three years. She had moved to the other side of the planet in the early stages of her pregnancy, and firmly told them she was settling in, and not to come visit just yet. She now had a good job in a place uptown, serving as a waitress in a classy upscale restaurant. It paid enough to support her and her son, and pay for a good little two bedroom apartment. Desiree had been trying to hold them off for months, but they told her they were arranging a visit; whether she liked it or not. They had something important to tell her. She sighed as she reached her best friend's house.

Ayala was the wife of the Senator of Corellia. She also was unable to have kids. She had had multiple miscarriages, and eventually gave up. She had adopted a son, about the same age as Desiree's son, and she rarely minded watching him when Desiree needed her to.

"Thanks, Ay," Desiree told her friend as she opened the door. She knelt down to her son, "Sweetie, Mommy has to keep some visitors you don't need to see, I'll be back as soon as they're gone." With that, she kissed him on the head, and let him run into the house to go find Ayala's son.

"Des, you're not gonna be able to hide him forever," Ayala said with a sigh. "He's a real cute kid, I'm sure they'll understand…"

"Same thing happened to my cousin, and they disowned her, practically banished her. It's a disgrace to them."

"I'll help you as long as I can, Des, but do you think it's gonna be good for him; to not know his family?"

"He's not going to know his father, either, but there's hardly anything I can do about that. He doesn't need to know the leeches he's related to." Desiree mumbled, "I know I wish I didn't."

Anakin sighed, awoken. He rolled over, willing sleep to wash over him. Instead, he saw Padme's sleeping form beside him. Tears sprang to his eyes; she was still alive; it must have just been a nightmare! He went to touch her shoulder, to hold her in his arms and tell her exactly how much he loved her; how glad he was she was alive. But as he went to put a hand on her shoulder, it slipped right through, and the illusion was gone. He rolled over, angry with himself for letting his mind deceive him. He was going to avenge her, and protect his children in the process.

Anakin Skywalker stood front of a small moisture farm owned by Beru and Owen Lars. He was stopped down, with his two young children, in front of his mother's grave. "I'm sorry you were not here to see them. You would have loved them." He stood up and walked into one of the huts on the moisture farm, carrying Luke and Leia with him.

He set the twins down on the bed. Anakin sighed, he missed Padme, and he missed his mother too. Owen Lars, his step-brother, walked into the room. He picked up Luke, sat down on the bed, and put the baby in his lap. "Anakin," Owen said, "I know we didn't take much time to acquaint ourselves when we first met, but stay here with us. Do not partake in this war any longer; you've already lost so much."

Anakin sighed, "I cannot do that, Owen. I was a Jedi, and I still feel that my duty is to the Republic both me and my wife loved. I cannot stand by and watch it being torn into more pieces than it already is."

"You have a _family_ now, you duty is to _them_." Owen motioned toward Luke and Leia.

"I have to avenge Padme, especially because it means that it will keep my children _safe_. The only way to do that is to _beat_ Sidious."

"Revenge is never good."

"Yoda would say the same, and so would Obi-Wan, but…I must." Anakin stood up and walked out to the bare Tatooine landscape, his daughter in his arms. "He's here, Leia, I know he is. I sense he will do terrible things to the Republic. I don't want you growing up in the corrupt pace he intends for it to become. I love you," he whispered in her tiny ear.

Anakin looked into the large brown eyes of his daughter. He used the tip of his index finger to gently rub her palm. She curled her fingers around his, and blinked up at him. He smiled to himself and looked out at the setting suns. "This is where I grew up. I don't want you to grow up here, no, not my little girl. I was a slave here, and now…and now I'm the luckiest man in the world. I was a Jedi, a hero. I got adrenaline rushes like no one has ever known. I met your mother, the most beautiful woman in the galaxy. I loved her; I loved her with a passion that no one understood. We had to be married in secret. I felt the loneliness of being away from her during the Clone Wars. I never had a father, and now I am one." Anakin sighed, it felt good to tell Leia these things, after today, he may never have the chance. "She was a determined woman, your mother, and I know you'll be just like her; you don't need this terrible place to toughen you up, you my dear have the genetics. If I have the chance, I'd like to give you everything you could ever need; anything you ever want. I can get a job fixing things…maybe an auto-shop of some sort. I'll be here for you, I hope, always.

"I have no family. Well, I guess the Lars' could count, but I don't really know them. I feel like we're imposing, just being here. I don't have a father, so I don't really know how it is that one is supposed to act. But I know I want the best for you, I want you to grow up on Naboo, with your grandparents around you. You deserve that, my precious little girl, you deserve that. I love you Leia, my Leia; always remember that. No matter what happens, remember this, I love you and your brother, you mother loved you, and I loved your mother." He kissed her forehead, and went to carry her back inside, murmuring, "I love you, Leia," in a soft, dulcet whisper until his little girl fell asleep cradled his arms.

Anakin raced toward the Podracing track, he sensed Sidious was there. In the years since he'd won the Boonta Eve Classic, Podracing had been deemed illegal. Anakin would miss it. Even though the gambling turned even decent creatures into immoral pigs, and he'd never had a choice in the matter, because his owner Watto was as bad as the rest of them; it gave a thrill he'd never quite managed to duplicate.

He jumped off the speeder and ran onto the track, lightsaber raised. He had been right, Sidious was here. He stepped out from under the archway warily. He had no idea how Sidious meant to attack; only that he did mean to.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, the pod of a racer came flying at him. He jumped in the air and sliced the pod in half with his lightsaber. Anakin bent down to inspect the scattered pieces of the racer around him. It was the one he had built when he had been just nine years old. The paint was peeling off, and now with the incision his light saber had just made, it was even worse off. His head snapped up to the commentator's box as he heard cackling coming from the speakers all around him.

Anakin walked carefully into the announcer's box, near the top of the stadium. As he opened the door, it creaked. _BANG!_ The door slammed against the wall of the small box. Sidious was nowhere in sight. Anakin stepped further into the box, and leaned into the controls that worked the speakers. His acute hearing picked up just the slightest trace of movement. He swiveled around and looked up, just as Sidious dropped from the ceiling, where he had been clinging, and onto the floor in front of him. Anakin was trapped. He ignited his lightsaber as the sith advanced. He looked around and knew he hand nowhere to go…except _out_.

Anakin jumped back, shattering that glass of the window, into a low level of seats in the stadium. He had cuts on his lips, and his hand. He wiped off the blood and picked up his lightsaber. It was dangerous, letting Sidious have the high ground, but it was the only play he had.

"You must come with me, Anakin," Sidious told him, as he leaped from the box and landed gracefully on a step ten meters above Anakin. "Together, we will find a way _to bring Padme back_."

Anakin looked up at the sith with a look of pure loathe, "I will never join _you_." His teeth were bared, his eyes stung with ice water tears. "_Padme_ never would, and neither will I."

"You never needed her, Anakin; she only held you _back_." Anakin's nostrils flared and his cheeks burning with fury. "She never loved you, Anakin. All she wanted was your power."

"LIAR!!! YOU'RE LYING TO ME!!!" Anakin threw the force into him and attempted to jump over Sidious. He jump was high enough, and he would have made it, if Sidious hadn't attacked him with the Force lightning, diminishing the height of his jump. He fell with a strangled cry, as the sith severed his limbs, with the exception of the one he had already lost. Sidious picked up the torso of the defeated father.

"This would have been much easier, Anakin, if you had joined me." The sith lord carried Anakin to his ship, dropping him off in the medical chamber. He went away to find Anakin's star speeder, jumped into it, and flew into his own ship's hangar.

Owen Lars looked up in enough time to see Anakin's speeder fly off into the distant Tatooine night. He returned inside, and sat down at the table with his wife, who was holding Luke in her arms. "Where's Anakin?" she asked, her eyes still on the pink bundle in her arms.

"I think he went back to Coruscant. I think I'd better contact that Jedi, Obi-Wan."

"Who's Obi-Wan?"

"The man he told me to contact if anything bad happened to him."

"What about the babies?"

"Maybe this Obi-Wan will come take them to Anakin."

"Des, I'm sorry. I can't take him today," Ayala told Desiree one sunny Corellia afternoon a few days after her parents had arrived.

"Are you sure you have to go to Coruscant?"

"Yes, I have to go there. It's our little boy's birthday tomorrow, and my husband won't be home in time." Desiree groaned. "Just tell them, Des!"

"What if they shun _him_? What if they blame _him_? He may think he did something _wrong_!"

"Des, there's nothing you can do about that but tell him the truth."

Desiree sighed, picked up her son, thanked Ayala, and walked back to her apartment. She sat her son down on the couch. "Honey, I'm gonna need you to stay in your room for a little bit, can you do that for Mommy?"

The little boy cocked his head, his brown hair flopping down into his blue eyes. "Can you stay in your room and play until Mommy comes and gets you? Grandma's coming, and Mommy needs to tell her first."

"Gammaw?" The little boy asked, never having heard the word before.

"Yes, yes grandma. She'll be here soon, I'm sorry to say, but she needs a little warning before you come out. Okay, honey?"

"Okay!" He threw his arms around her, and looked up at her, his eyes sparkling. "I wuv you mommy!"

"I love you too, sweetie."


	7. Chapter 7

_**Chapter Seven:**_

Darth Sidious could be patient. He thought he had been patient enough. He wanted the destruction of the Jedi so bad he could taste it. He had already formulated a plan. It had not included Anakin Skywalker refusing to join him. He had not accounted on Padme being trained in the ways of the Jedi. It was a good thing he had a back-up plan. So, as his surgical team worked on giving Anakin Skywalker artificial limbs, he sat in the cockpit, watching as his pilots brought him over Kamino. He raised his hood and stepped out of the ship and hurried to get shelter from the pelting rain.

He was greeted by a tall, slim Kaminan woman who led him to the prime minister. "Hello," said the prime minister in the smooth, almost robotic voice Kaminans were known for. "You are here to see the progress of your clone?"

"Actually, I am here to collect him."

"Right this way." The prime minister led him down past the rooms where more clone troopers were being constructed, and to a smaller room, almost like a hospital room. "Although the DNA you gave us was from a Jedi, you must know that this clone will not have the full powers of Anakin Skywalker."

"I understand that. I only need this clone to do a…quick job for me. How strong will his powers be, though, compared to the original?"

"Three-quarters, perhaps; I know nothing of the Force, therefore, I cannot accurately tell you of his ability to use it. He has been trained in the ways of swordsmanship and gunmanship, so perhaps you could use that to your advantage."

"Hmm…perhaps," Sidious hummed. He stepped forward to examine the clone. It looked every bit like the Anakin Skywalker that was currently in surgery on his plane. Except for one thing, this clone's eyes were blank. They showed no emotion. This, Sidious realized, was a good thing. "Thank you. I assume you have been paid in full?"

"Yes, and we appreciate your promptness, Chancellor Palpatine. Will there be anything else?"

"No. Nothing else, just keep producing more clones for the army."

"Yes sir. I hope that your new clone will be to your satisfaction," the prime minister said as he walked Sidious to the door.

"As long as he completes the job I've laid out for him, he will be." They reached the door, and the Kaminan bowed to the sith. Sidious bowed back, before stepping out into the rain, and once more shuffling to his ship, this time with the clone trailing behind him. Sidious went and pulled out a pair of Jedi robes just like Anakin's from a chest in his ship for the Jedi. He maneuvered through the ship to the surgical ward. There, he looked through the glass at the fallen hero, Anakin Skywalker.

"Anakin," Sidious said, in the enunciating drawl he seemed to be known for. Anakin looked up at him, a pained expression on his face, but determination in his eyes. "It is time to see how your part will be played in the destruction of the Republic."

"I will never betray the Republic. There is nothing you can do to change that."

"Oh, but Anakin, that is where you are wrong. You are already taking part."

"I will not take part in your dismal plan for the Republic."

"Anakin, Anakin. Why my boy, you have the biggest part of all. _You_ are going to destroy the Jedi."

"WHAT?! No! I will never destroy the Jedi! While I may not be part of the order anymore, why in the world would you think that I would betray them?!"

"Because, my most naïve ally, you will."

"There is not a thing you will be able to do that will lead me to that. You made me have those dreams about losing Padme; I know it is true, because if they were really my visions, they would have come true. But they didn't. And they didn't lead me to you. Neither did the loss of my wife. There is nothing you will be able to do that will lead me to the Dark side."

"Oh, but Anakin, don't you see? I am in control here, you have no power now. There is nothing you can do to stop me. There is one other person that can help me accomplish the last task in my ability to create the first galactic empire. And that would be…." Sidious motioned for the clone to step into the light, "You."

Anakin gasped. "Why did you do this?"

"I have been planning this take over for a very long time. I have been manipulating this war from both sides, and there is no way that I am going to let _you_ get in my way."

"If you are so content on destroying the Jedi, why don't you just do your own dirty work?"

"Anakin, you are the hero of the Clone Wars. They will enjoy seeing you succeed. They will be fooled by your victory, into thinking that the Jedi really did betray the Republic. And you, their only gallant hero left, will be the one to rise up, and purify the Republic and kill the Jedi."

Anakin's eyes widened with horror, as he learned the truth of what would become of his friends. "NO!" He struggled against the restraints that kept his new metal limbs from being used for his own purposes. But his attempts were futile. There would be no escape for the true Anakin Skywalker.

Desiree opened the door for her mother and father. She invited them into the living room for the second time during their stay. "Desiree, darling, you remember we had something that we wanted to tell you?" her mother asked.

"Yes, I do. And there is something that I have to you as well."

"Well, dear, let us go first."

"I was planning to."

"Your mother and I," her father cut in, clearing his throat as he took a sip of the drink Desiree had prepared for them, "have bought apartment quarters here in the city." "We have left the large house to your sister and her husband, as they have children on the way and don't need us cluttering up the house," her mother added.

Desiree's mouth hung open; this was the last thing she had expected from them. "How…how soon will you be…moving in permanently?"

"Why dear, that's what this trip was for. We bought the apartments long ago, and have been moving things in over the years, trip by trip. Every time we got so disappointed when you wouldn't let us come visit, that this time we felt that we just had to come see you this time, to let you know that we are living here now." Her mother stopped to take an elegant sip of the drink in front of her. "You seem to be pretty well moved in. I don't see any traces of things still left to be settled."

"Well, that is what _I_ wanted to tell _you._" Desiree rubbed her thumbs across the surface nervously. "I was afraid…that you would not accept this. I hope that you will consider this with an open mind." She set down her cup and walked into the other room. She picked up her son and walked him into the room where her parents sat.

"Gammaw?!" the boy asked as he saw the aging couple sitting on the couch. Desiree nodded and set him down. He squealed excitedly and raced toward them. "Gammaw!"

"This is my son."

"Your…son?" her parents asked at the same time, staring at the cute little boy with disbelief.

"Yes."

"Who is the father?"

"A Jedi Knight," her parents looked at her with expressions mixed between horror and confusion.

"This is unacceptable, _totally_ unacceptable!" her mother squealed, ignoring the hug her grandson intended to give her as she stood up and motioned her husband to do the same. "You will bring disgrace upon our family. We will not allow that to happen. And to ensure that," her mother sighed with distraught, "you are no longer a member of this family."

Her parents stormed out the door, and Desiree would never see them again.

Obi-Wan reached the Lars' residence, and walked in to find each of the Skywalker twins being cradled by one of the young couple. "I'm Owen Lars, Anakin's step-brother. He said to contact you if anything should happen to him. I'm afraid something has. He went off to confront Darth Sidious…"

"He's here? On Tatooine?"

"Well, Anakin thought he was. But Anakin left. I saw his star speeder fly away with my own two eyes. He left without his children. I knew then that something was wrong."

"What did he tell you to tell me?"

"He told me tell you to take the twins to Coruscant, and hand them off to a handmaiden. If he is truly dead, he said the handmaiden would know where to take them. He also said that you must tell the Council something of the greatest importance."

"And what would that be?"

"Chancellor Palpatine is Darth Sidious." Obi-Wan's eyes widened, and he nodded.

"Give me the twins. We are going to Coruscant, now."

Mace Windu sat in the map room, wondering what his next move was going to be. Obi-Wan's hologram appeared on the projector. "Yes, Master Obi-Wan? You have something to report?"

"I have received a message from Anakin Skywalker."

"And what importance of that to the Council?" Mace Windu asked, his eyebrow raising.

"He has found out the identity of the sith we've been searching for."

"And who would that be?"

"Chancellor Palpatine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. His wife was killed trying to defeat him, and I believe Anakin may have been as well."

Anakin cried. He felt defeated, weak, and useless. He felt as if he failed his children. He felt as if he had failed Padme. He felt as if he failed Obi-Wan, and the entire Jedi Order. He also felt as if he had failed himself. All was hopeless; all was lost. "Anakin," said Sidious as he entered his office, the room where the despaired man had been relocated to once the ship had reached Coruscant. "You are going to watch the fun unfold with me."

"Fun? You are more corrupt than I had originally thought possible. To think I used to respect you, that I used to look up to you as a friend and mentor," Anakin looked as sick as he felt, and as Sidious walked up to him, he spat in his face.

Sidious laughed. He continued to laugh as Mace Windu, Kit Fisto, Aegean Kolar, and Seasee Tiin barged through the doors to Palpatine's office. "You're arrest, Chancellor," Mace Windu said as the three other Jedi ignited their lightsabers.

"AGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Sidious shouted as he ignited his lightsaber and leaped at the foursome. He successfully killed both Kit Fisto and Seasee Tiin on the first surprise attack. Not long after the battle was under way, Sidious had disposed of Aegean Kolar as well. Now it was a one-on-one fight between Mace Windu and Darth Sidious. Mace Windu finally cornered him in the corner of the newly-fixed window and the wall beside it. Sidious' lightsaber was thrown from his hands, so he attacked Mace Windu with force lightning. He was able to use his lightsaber to absorb most of the lightning, but it weakened him, and it weakened Sidious as well.

The impact of the lightning cause the pleasant face of Palpatine melt away, and the ugly, worn, wrinkled face of Sidious to take its place. "Anakin, help me!" the sith coughed frailly.

"No, Anakin, help me!" Mace Windu cried, "He's a traitor!"

But it was not the true Anakin Skywalker that was going to come to the rescue. It was the clone. He walked up, and in his concentration to keep Sidious at bay, Mace Windu did not realize the difference, until it was too late, and the Anakin clone had severed his arm. Sending his lightsaber, and hand still attached, crashing through the window, shattering the glass once more. Sidious cackled one last time, and used the lighting to push the Jedi Council member falling to the Coruscant floor fall below.

Sidious sighed, as if having had enjoyed the encounter. And in a way that made chills run down Anakin's spine. The sick way that Sidious enjoyed it made Anakin fear even more for the monster's plans for the Republic. Anakin for the billionth time as these events unfolded, thought of his children. He thought of his promise to Padme to take care of them. He thought of his promise to Leia to make the galaxy a better place for her. On both these accounts, he failed. He hoped dearly that then handmaiden Obi-Wan handed the twins off to would respect his wishes and send the babies off to live with their grandparents on Naboo.

He shivered as the clone likeness of him spoke. It was his voice, exactly. He had progressed in the last few hours, and was able to project emotion. It scared Anakin, scared him so much. Because whether he chose to admit it or not, he had been really close to joining Sidious, he was tempted by his offers to learn the way to keep the ones he loved alive. But he had used his common sense, and his knowledge of the Force, and it had pulled him away from the path of evil. Anakin wanted so desperately to wake up, and find that this would all have been a nightmare.

It was a nightmare that he was living.

"Well, my friend, it is finally time, to watch the fun begin."

"I am not your friend," Anakin said through barred teeth. Pleading with the Force to free him of his bonds and leash out at the sith.

"Oh maybe not now, but you soon will be." Sidious turned from Anakin and looked toward the clone kneeled before him. "From now on," he drawled, "you will be known as Darth…Vader."

"Yes, Master."

"And now, my young apprentice, I want you to go to the Jedi Temple, and destroy every Jedi within its walls. A regimen of clone troopers will assist you. Go! Now! When you are done there, go to the Mustafar system, and finish off the Separatists."

With a "Yes, Master," the clone rose, picked up his stolen lightsaber, and walked away to do his duty.

"You see, Anakin, that clone is merely a tool. He is going to execute what I was not able to get you to do. But after that, he will die. I will have no use for him. You are much more powerful."

"But I will _never_ follow you!"

"Oh, but Anakin, you don't seem to know what I have planned for you. We are going to watch, as every last Jedi is killed. Every. Last. One. And then, I am going to make you think you did it." Anakin opened his mouth to speak, but Sidious held up a hand to silence him. "My surgeons are going to tamper with your brain. All of this will be gone. In its place, you will remember only what I want you to remember. And you will follow me, because you will believe that the Jedi are traitors to the Republic, that _you_ helped me kill Mace Windu, and that _you_ killed Padme _and_ your unborn child. How does it feel, Anakin, knowing that, if you hadn't taught her how to fight with a lightsaber, that both she and your child would be alive. How does that make the almost-father-to-be feel? If you had just joined me, Anakin, they would be alive."

Anakin knew that what Sidious said about his family was a lie. He knew that because Sidious said "child" not children, so he did not know that Padme had carried twins, nor did he seem to know that they were still alive. Anakin felt a shimmer of hope. If Sidious did not know about his children, then they had a better chance to survive. He knew, though, that he would never feel relief, not worry, about his children's lives again, because Sidious was going to do terrible things to his memory. But, he had a little bit of consolation in the fact that they were alive, and they were a secret.

Sidious projected a hologram into the middle of the room. At first Anakin did not know what it was. When he saw himself, robe flapping in the breeze, with a legion of clone troopers following, he knew what it was: the Jedi Temple. It was under attack, and he was going to have to see it all.

As he watched his likeness kill Jedi after Jedi, with the clone troopers helping for back up, as well as to guard the perimeter, he knew that the only was this clone was able to kill so many Jedi was because he had the element of surprise. The clone was clumsy with a lightsaber. He had enough skill to handle it, and deliver killing blows, but he was unsure of himself as he used it. The few stragglers that got past him would be shot, over and over, by multiple troopers, until their bodies shuddered, and became one with the Force. Every blast that hit his fellow Jedi, Anakin felt as if it were being shot at him, at his heart.

He hated watching himself, his body, do terrible things to these valiant people he knew, these people that had become his family. It tugged at his heart to see this likeness of him kill young padawans, barely coming into their own. He saw himself parade into the Jedi council room, and a youngling, whose chubby cheeks were flushed with fear, peek up to see who the new comer was. After him, a dozen more younglings huddled around him and they walked toward the imposter. "Master Skywalker," the young boy said, his voice so pure, so young, so innocent, it broke Anakin's heart to just hear his name being said, "There are too many of them. What are we going to do?"

Anakin writhed, and every fiber of his being wished that his clone had one once the amount of humanity of any living being, and spare this scared little boy and his comrades. He knew, however, that the clone did not. Anakin's lightsaber ignited and the little boy stepped back, confused, his eyes filling with confusion. He was the first to die. Anakin pulled against the restraints, wishing he could cover his ears as he heard the humming of his lightsaber and the screams of the young children. Would their parents ever know what became of them? He thought of his own children, and it broke his heart into even tinier pieces, wracking him to his core.

Sidious cackled. Every last Jedi in the temple had been killed. The younglings signified that, and to Anakin they signified the last hope of the Jedi being destroyed. "That isn't the last of the Jedi. There are more, all over the galaxy!"

"Yes, but there are clone troopers with every single one of them; and as soon as I give the order, they will die- every single one of them." Sidious pulled out a communicator from his pocket, and said three words, three words that chilled again, for probably the thousandth time that day. "Execute order sixty-six."

All over the galaxy, the mightiest of Jedi were falling; their troopers betrayed them, shot them down. The clones shot each remaining Jedi so many times that even as their soul passed away, their body still writhed in pain. Yoda felt this disturbance in the Force as he stood on a wooden balcony over-looking the beaches of Kashykk with the two wookies he trusted most. As the two troopers that had escorted him thus far pulled out their blasters, Yoda was two steps ahead of them, and had the two crumpled in a heap on the floor before they could shoot at him. "Happened, something terrible has," Yoda whispered, feeling wounded, almost to himself more than to the wookies. Nonetheless, one of the two wookies, Chewbacca, lifted him up onto his back, and they hurried away into the woods to help the oldest Jedi hurry away to safety. They took dark trails, away from the eyes of the troopers, and finally made it to an escape pod in the middle of the woods.

Obi-Wan handed off the twins to a handmaiden in the late Senator Amidala's apartments, "If I am not back, please follow out whatever plans Anakin gave you." With that, he left, and walked out onto the patio of Padme's apartments. From there he saw smoke coming from the Jedi temple. He hurried and got into one of the Senator's ships, and sped off to the temple. Inside the ship, he found the two droids, R2-D2 and C-3P0. He ignored their light bickering, and hurried to the temple as fast as he could without arising suspicions.

As he approached the temple landing bay, he did so with caution, unsure what have taken place only a short time before. He cautiously stepped out of the ship and went to investigate the temple. What he found did nothing short of cripple him. He was so shocked by what he found, that he fell to his knees. Hundreds of bodies lay before him, bodies of his friends, of the only family that he had come to know. Bodies of young Jedi, bodies of old Jedi, all strewn across the floor as if they meant nothing more than rags. Obi-Wan walked through the Temple, bewildered, confused, and heartbroken. Unsure of what the next room he ventured into would hold. If what he had seen before had crippled him, what he saw now positively floored him, atomized him almost. He could not believe what he was seeing. The bodies of about a dozen younglings were huddled in a dead heap in the middle of the council-room floor. He leaned closer to get another look.

A hole right through the young child's heart; he had been killed by lightsaber. Obi-Wan hurried behind a hidden wall in the council room, into the temple control room. There sat Yoda. "What has happened here?" Obi-Wan asked in shock, but glad to see his revered master was still alive.

"See for yourself, you must. For tell you, if I, believe, you will not." Yoda took one hand off his gimer stick and pointed to the video accounts. "Watch them, you must."

Obi-Wan did just that. Soon, he saw holograms of his former padawan killing everything from aging teachers to inexperienced younglings. He gasped, and turned off the images. "Anakin…Anakin could not have done this."

"What happened here, the dark side clouds. Go after the sith and his apprentice, he must."

"Do not make me kill Anakin, I couldn't. He is like my brother."

"Greed and hate are his brothers now. Too strong for you, this sith lord is. Handle him myself, I must."

"But Master Yoda…"

"Argue with me, do not."

"Yes master."

"To Mustafar, you must go."

Sidious cackled, and sent Anakin off to the medical ward, the same medical ward where Padme had given birth, no less. The surgeons prepared their utensils, and Anakin made pleas inside his mind. _Luke_, he murmured, _Leia, I love you, so much. My love will always be with you, your mother will always be with you. _

The surgeons put on their masks, and Anakin looked up at the sky. "Padme," he murmured, "I love you, so much. More than anything, I love you."

"I love you too, Anakin," Padme appeared before his eyes, whether a hallucination or her spirit had really graced him, he did not know, nor did he care. He reached his hand out to stroke her face; he could almost feel the silkiness of her smooth skin. Her face was the last thing he saw before the true Anakin Skywalker was lost.

Sidious heard a thump and looked up to see his two imperial guards in a heap against the wall, and the little green figure he least wanted to see, standing as calm as could be. "I hear a new apprentice you have, Chancellor," Yoda said with an all-knowing tone. "Or should I say…Darth Sidious."

"Master Yoda…you survived." Sidious said with obvious contempt.

"Surprised, are you?"

"Your arrogance blinds you, Master Yoda. Now, experience the full power of the dark side," said the sith, slowly raising his hands to strike. He threw a round of force lightning at Yoda. The tiny Jedi master crashed against the wall, knocking his gimer stick out of his hand, and tumbled over the floor. Sidious cackled as Yoda struggled to regain his balance.

"At last, the Jedi are no more," Sidious drawled.

"Not, if anything to say about it, I have," Yoda declared, his voice shaky from the fall. He used the force to push Sidious off his feet, and crashing over behind his desk. "At an end your rule is. And not short enough it was."

Sidious stood facing Yoda, and watched as the skilled master prepared for a fight. The sith leaped for the door, but Yoda saw this move coming and landed gracefully in front of him, and as the old Chancellor struggled to control his breathing, Yoda reached for his lightsaber. "If so powerful you are," Yoda ignited his lightsaber, "why leave?"  
"You will not stop me. Darth Vader will become more powerful than either of us," Sidious remarked, igniting his lightsaber in suit.

"Faith in your new apprentice, misplaced may be; as is your faith in the dark side of the Force." Sidious raised his arms over his head, preparing to strike. Yoda jumped at him, making the first move. Yoda landed on the back of the Chancellor's podium, and bounced back to make another swing. Sidious cackled as he swung at the master, to no avail. Yoda blocked every move. The podium began to rise, and the ceiling uncoiled so the Chancellor's podium entered the Senate arena.

The two combatants swung their lightsabers at each other with wild skill. The podium loomed over the infinitive number of Senate pods as the two continued to fight. Yoda bounced around the stationary Sidious with agile skill of no other. Yoda flew over Sidious, landing a few pods down. The sith lord cackled again, using the force to lift the pods between them and send them crashing down to the small Jedi Master. Yoda was able to redirect them, and send them crashing into other pods around him, smashing them to pieces.

Sidious began hurling a new pod with each new swing of his hand. Yoda began to grow weary, and only had the strength to hop down the pods in enough time to avoid being crushed. Sidious stopped long enough to cackle, letting Yoda catch his breath, and prepare a spinning pod to hurl back at Sidious. He jumped down a few pods and out of the way of the projectile Yoda sent at him. Yoda jumped up to meet him, lightsaber raised. Sidious raised his hands, force lightning spewing from his fingertips. Yoda was forced to drop his lightsaber into the depths of the arena. Yoda was able to absorb and concentrate the force lightning into his palms. Sidious continued to cackle as Yoda's eyes flickered with determination as he flung back the lightning bolts at the sith lord.

With all the energy it took, it flung Yoda off the side of the pod, and down a considerable amount of the stadium, landing him barely on the side of another pod. He lost his grip and went tumbling down, as Sidious regained his balance on his own pod. Yoda fell to the floor of the arena, breaking the initial impact with a roll. He cautiously got to his feet. He looked up in defeat to see his Jedi robe land with a flutter onto a wreckage pole higher up in the arena. With a sigh, he began to crawl through the under tubing of the Senate building. When he was a good ways in, he used the comlink to tell Bail Organa where to be waiting.

Sidious waited in the Chancellor's podium with his assistant and gave orders to the clone troopers to find Yoda. He then told the assistant to gather the Senate for a meeting, requiring everyone to attend. "The time," he murmured under his breath, "has come."

Yoda dropped down into the speeder next to Senator Organa. "Failed I have. Into hiding I must go. Hope Obi-Wan does better, we must." Bail nodded, and retreated to his starship.

"Welcome, Lord Vader, we've been expecting you," said Nute Gunray, bowing his head as the imposter walked into the room. He nonchalantly used a flick of his fingers to close the surrounding exits. The separatist leaders looked to each other with alarm. Anakin's imposter slaughtered the droid guards and turned then to the Separatists. He began skewering them on his stolen blue blade, one by one. Nute Gunray's eyes widened when the clone turned to him. "No! Don't, don't!"

The imposter did not waste his time a moment to even consider mercy. He finished off the very last droid with a fluid motion, deflecting a blaster blot with his lightsaber over his back, not even turning to glance. "The war is over. Lord Sidious promised us peace," said a separatist, desperately. "We only want-" The clone stopped his plea with a swift beheading. He shut down his lightsaber, and folded his arms in his cloak, and walked away, leaving the dead bodies sealed in their tomb.

Obi-Wan stepped from his borrowed starship. A cloaked figure approached him. "Anakin," he called. "How could you have done this?"

"Sidious is more powerful than we realized."

"Anakin, he killed your wife, how could you now join him?"

"He promised to bring her back to me."

"You should know that he just lying to trick you into joining him, Anakin. No one can bring people back from the dead, or even keep them from dying."

"You're lying," the imposter screamed, portraying a convincing replica of Anakin's anger. "He told me if I killed the Jedi, I would be powerful enough for him to teach me."

"You have allowed this dark lord to twist your mind, until now you have become the very thing you swore to destroy."

"Don't _lecture_ me, Obi-Wan. I see through the lies of the Jedi. I do not fear the dark side as you do. I have brought peace, freedom, justice, and security to my new empire."

"_Your_ new empire?"

"Don't make me kill you."

"Anakin, my allegiance to the Republic, to _democracy_!"

"If you are not with me, then you are my enemy."

"Only a sith deals in absolutes. I will do what I must," he said, pulling his lightsaber from his belt and raising it.

"You will try." Obi-Wan ignited his saber and the clone pulled his from his belt and ignited it in one swift movement as he executed a back flip and right into a sparring with Obi-Wan. They began a series of movements that each began to block tirelessly. The clone backed Obi-Wan onto the side of the bridge. Obi-Wan kept him at bay and got enough ground back to step down from the small ledge.

The sith got the better hand and snapped his hand around Obi-Wan's throat as he kept his saber hand well out of the way. He bent back the Jedi's own hand almost enough to behead him with his own lightsaber. Obi-Wan took advantage of a fuse blowing above them to take over his arm again.

They had battled their way into the conference room. They jumped onto the table and circled each other. Obi-Wan stood and kicked as the clone rushed to him, tripping him out of his way. Obi-Wan flicked the lightsaber out of his hand. As Obi-Wan raised his lightsaber, the clone picked his up and blocked Obi-Wan.

He stood up and they began sparring with a flurry of swift and quick movements. They got locked in one move, and using their free hands, began to use the Force to push each other, but they were about even. They both broke at the same time, sending each other flying to either end of the conference room. The clone ran to Obi-Wan and swung at him, but missed, and instead hit a power button for the magma heaters on the Mustafar surface. They battled out of the room and out onto another bridge.

They sparred across it until Obi-Wan jumped onto some small piping below. The imposter followed, and they moved cautiously moved across, neither turning his back to the other. When the piping began to grow wider, and their balance a bit more steady, they began to take a few more swings at each other. Obi-Wan jumped onto a platform, leaving Vader to follow. Vader took a punch to Obi-Wan, sending him back a few feet. They stood locked into a deadly arm wrestle, backing quickly to a large tower in the magma.

The lava suddenly exploded, sending the combatants running swiftly to the tower, momentarily forgetting his opponent. The tower broke off in the lava, and they scurried back up the piping as the tower fell into the lava. Obi-Wan ascended the tube, trying to keep Vader at bay as he followed the Jedi up the pipes. Obi-Wan used a loose wire to swing away from the pipes and onto a chunk of metal floating in the lava river. Obi-Wan stood and watched as Vader ran and jumped onto a free-moving monitoring droid. He used the droid to skate over to Obi-Wan across the lava, and continued their fight before using a back-flip to land on Obi-Wan's metal raft.

"I have failed you Anakin," Obi-Wan said, breathless, "I have failed you."

"I should have known the Jedi were plotting to take over!"

"Anakin, Chancellor Palpatine is evil!"

"From my point of view, the Jedi are evil!"

"_Well_ then you _are_ lost." Vader stared pitilessly into Obi-Wan's eyes.

"This is the end for you, my master." They fought as they floated down the lava river, until Obi-Wan jumped off the raft and onto the molten shore.

The raft coasted to a stop in front of the Jedi. "It's over, Anakin. I have the high ground."

"You underestimate my power!" Anakin's imposter growled.

"Don't try it!" With a shout, he attempted to back flip over Obi-Wan, but the Jedi lifted his blade and quickly amputated his limbs. The clone slipped down and fell to the end of the shore. He shouted, and moaned, and groaned. Obi-Wan clipped his saber to his belt. Vader looked up at Obi-Wan with pure hatred.

"You were the chosen one!" Obi-Wan screamed. "It was said you would destroy the sith, not join them! Bring balance to the Force, not leave it in darkness!" he leaned over while Vader was moaning and picked up the stolen lightsaber.

"I hate you!" Vader spewed with venom.

"You were my brother, Anakin! I loved you." The stump left on the imposter's body caught fire. Obi-Wan looked away as what he thought was his companion smoldered and screamed. Obi-Wan turned with a tear in his eye, and made his way back to the starship.

"The traitorous Jedi Order has been defeated, and the war with the separatists is over," Palpatine announced to the senate. A deafening roar ran through the crowd. "We have created the first _galactic empire_!" The senate erupted in applause again.

"So this is how liberty dies," said a senator next to Bail Organa, "with thunderous applause." The both shook their heads.

"What about the twins?" asked Obi-Wan as he said with Yoda and Senator Organa on the Senator's starship.

"Separated, they must be. Too powerful together, they are."

"Yes, if Palpatine finds them, he will kill them."

"My wife and I have always discussed about adopting a girl. With us, Leia will have a safe and loving home," Bail said with a smile.

"And what of the boy?" Obi-Wan asked Yoda.

"Keep him with his family, on Tatooine. Safe from the Empire, there he will be."

Obi-Wan nodded. "I will stay there, and look after him. What of you, Master?"

"Into hiding I will go, on Degobah."

"Then it's agreed," said Bail. The Jedi both nodded.

Bail walked up to his wife with a bundle of pink blankets. He set young Leia into her arms, and looked out over the Aalderanian sunset. The little girl curled her fingers and looked into the eyes of her adoptive mother.

Obi-Wan stepped from the speeder and over to Owen and Beru Lars. They agreed to take care of the young Skywalker. They looked out into the Tatooine sunsets, new and prospective parents, wondering what the boy would bring to their life.

Palpatine looked out at the construction of the Death Star with his new apprentice. Anakin Skywalker was gone, all remnants subdued in his mind. Darth Vader had filled his place, filling every recess of his brain with false memories. Palpatine ruled all, and the galaxy was in despair, as it would seem that there would be no end to this new empire.

But all was not lost. The Skywalkers were the hope of the galaxy, the secret weapon that would slowly become of use. Though Anakin was gone, Luke and Leia would become everything the galaxy needed.


End file.
